BULGARIA 1, REP OF IRELAND 1

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI will have been dancing a jig of delight last night as his Irish side moved a step closer to the World Cup finals.

The Green Machine ground out a hard-fought draw in Sofia and cemented their place in second spot in Group Eight, FIVE points clear of their hosts.

It could have been even better. Richard Dunne gave the Republic the lead with a bullet header on 24 minutes.

Yet boss Trap saw his side pegged back on level terms just five minutes later when Dimitar Telkiyski netted for the Bulgars.

Dodgy defending ended with a high hopeful hoof from Igor Tomasic floating over the Irish backline. Telkiyski kept his cool and slotted past Shay Given to make it 1-1.

Yet when the dust has settled this result must be regarded as a big positive.

Italian gaffer Trapattoni handed Sean Saint Ledger and Caleb Folan their first competitive starts in an Irish jersey. Their response was impressive. Saint Ledger, cast as a sweeper in response to Bulgaria's decision to play with just one centre-forward, showed no sign of stage-fright and - for most of the clash - read the game with perceptive ease.

That was an expected bonus yet it hardly compared to the impact Folan was having at the other end of the park - where his pace, strength and height caused mayhem in the Bulgarian defence.

Within the first 15 minutes he twice went close to bagging a first competitive goal.

First his low, angled shot from the edge of the penalty area was comfortably saved by Dimitar Ivankov. Then his outstretched right leg connected with Damien Duff's left-wing cross - forcing Ivankov into action yet again.

Folan and Duff then combined well to set up Stephen Hunt with Ivankov rescuing his side for a third time, diving low to save the Reading winger's header.

Given a free role, Bulgarian captain Dimitar Berbatov drifted effortlessly between midfield and attack and nearly broke the deadlock with a looping 19th-minute header from Radostin Kishishev's cross that landed on the roof of Given's net.

But Ireland's response was immediate. The Greens were playing a high-tempo game and piled the pressure on the opposition defence.

They got their reward on 24 minutes - Dunne finding himself unmarked in the Bulgarian penalty area before his header found the back of Ivankov's net.

A goal up, you sensed Ireland were in for another famous night. Instead, they allowed the Bulgars to level and remained under the cosh by a side who laid siege to their goal for the remainder of the half.

Hitman Berbatov was the game's outstanding individual, controlling the tempo of the match with some magical link play and showing the intelligence to know when to drop deep and when to push up.

And Ireland had to battle to find an answer to him. Playing 4-4-2, they brought their midfield quartet deep into their own half to offer safety in numbers without ever realising that they needed a man-marker to take care of the Manchester United man.

That wasn't their only problem. As they tried to play an offside trap Bulgaria fired long balls for their lightning-fast wingers to run on to.

CHASE - Keith Andrews and Bulgaria's Dimitar Berbatov in action

Martin Petrov raced in to fire a shot over Given's bar, then came the Bulgarian leveller.

Suddenly the mood in the stadium changed, with Bulgarian hopes of reaching South Africa rekindled.

By half-time they deserved to be ahead - and only Dunne's brave clearance to stop a Valeri Bozhinov shot denied them.

The break, however, interrupted their momentum. And the second half saw them find a more organised Irish defence second-guessing their every move.

The Berbatov conundrum wasn't totally solved but by abandoning any thought of going forward - Hunt and Duff effectively became additional defenders - Ireland were now able to compete on a more equal footing.

Chances were few and far between and the only one of note fell to Berbatov. Unmarked in the box, he fired wide when he should have scored.

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