Luton attacker Ogbene starts as Ireland end losing run with easy Gibraltar victory

Town attacker Chiedozie Ogbene won his 19th cap as Ireland ended their three game losing run with a confidence-boosting 4-0 Euro 2024 qualifying win in Gibraltar on Monday night.

The Luton forward was named in the starting line-up for a game that had little on it, Stephen Kenny's side seeing hopes of reaching next summer’s tournament ended with defeat to Greece last week.

Against a side who had not collected a single point from their 43 European Championship and World Cup qualifiers, the visitors struck after eight minutes when Ogbene found the overlapping Matt Doherty and his cross was steered home by Brighton forward Evan Ferguson.

Ogbene continued his fine international form of late and after Shane Duffy and Mikey Johnston had gone close, the Hatters man found Doherty once more who picked out Johnston to make it 2-0 on the half hour.

Gibraltar keeper Dale Coleing gathered Jamie McGrath's header from Ogbene's delivery, as it took until the hour mark for a third to arrive, Doherty netting from close range.

Substitute Callum Robinson completed the scoring with 10 minutes to go with another header, before Obgene was replaced in the closing stages.

Speaking to Sky Sports, an under-pressure Kenny said: “We're disappointed having lost the game (against Greece) on Friday.

"To put that behind them and to train and get themselves ready in a professional way and then work the openings for the goals in a very clever way, it made the finishes easier.

"The players deserve credit because it was a professional job on the night, a good performance and we could have got a lot more goals.

"I understand the Greek results, I understand that.

"Losing to Greece, that's a 50-50 game, we lost it. There's a lot of criticism because of that.

"That's okay. There's also been a lot of good football that people shouldn't forget either.

"There's no doubt, of course, I want to be the manager of Ireland. It's brilliant."

Ireland return to action in November with a Euro 2024 qualifier against the Netherlands in Amsterdam and then host a friendly with New Zealand in Dublin.