Hello readers… or as they say in Macedonian (one Google search later): zdravo!

We’re less than half an hour away from kick-off in Skopje. Let’s play ball.

Reading manager Brian McDermott and one Stephen Staunton – remember him? – are in the Sky Sports studio. Stan says this is ‘a potential banana skin’.

He says he’d be happy with a draw now. Do you all agree?

After a week of debate and injury scares, here’s your Ireland team:

Shay Given, Stephen Kelly, Darren O’Dea, John O’Shea, Kevin Kilbane; Aidan McGeady, Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews, Stephen Hunt; Robbie Keane, Simon Cox.

Shane Long can be expected to be sprung from the bench.

The Macedonians, for their part, have changed their goalkeeper; Edin Nuredinoski is replaced with Martin Bogatinov after the former’s showing at Lansdowne Road. Shame.

Elsewhere in Ireland’s pool tonight, Russia have beaten Armenia 3-1.

Guess who got a hat-trick. No… try again. No, not him. Okay, I’ll tell you: Roman Pavlyuchenko.

And without wanting to get anyone’s hopes up, Slovakia being held scoreless by the mountain top of Andorra.

Elsewhere in games to be filed under ‘waste of time’, Kerry hammered Limerick in their Munster SFC opener; 1-26 to 3-9

More interestingly, Galway are just one point up on Westmeath in their provincial hurling clash. It’s 3-10 to 2-12.

Galway have now gone four points up I’m told.

Are you in a pub surrounding by bar-stool experts? Have little to offer to the conversation? Feel inadequate?

Here’s a bluffer’s guide to tonight’s opponents.

Dunphy has ‘a sense of foreboding’ about this game while Giles has no confidence in the this team.

Many of you voted in our poll on Thursday in reaction to the choice of Cox ahead of the in-form Long. The result was pretty conclusive.

Brady and the two lads agree with you.

We’re live in Skopje. The atmosphere looks really good.

The teams are led onto the pitch by the German ref. The mascots look a little too big. The lad holding Robbie Keane’s hand is taller than him.

So, in the meantime, get you predictions in. I’m going, optimistically, for a 2-1 Irish win – with Cox and Long to score.

We’re up and running. Stephen Kelly, betraying a Trap instruction perhaps, shoots on sight in the first minute but the new, nervous-looking keeper sees it fly over.

There’s an early halt to proceedings as Shay Given tells the ref that there’s a lazer in his eyes from the crowd.

As he then tries to take the kick out, the tell-tale light spot is buzzing around the ball. The stadium PA makes an announcement advising – I presume – the crowd about the laser. They boo.

GOAL! Macedonia 0 Ireland 1; Keane 7′

Robbie Keane gets his 50th goal – an unbelievable record – with a long-range shot that takes a slight-but-kind deflection of a defender.

Pandev has been throwing himself around a bit and backing into O’Shea and O’Dea in the early stages. But he flew in on Kelly there and caught him late.

And as I type, the Inter Milan striker gets behind the defence but Shay Given, again, saves the day with a super one-on-one stop. Popov then drives the ball at the Man City man but he stops it handily.

This game has everything: a cat just ran across the pitch! I’m not sure if he had a laser.

More importantly perhaps, Slovakia have taken the lead in Bratislava.

Simon Cox just had the ball in the Macedonian net but it doesn’t count – and he’s gotten himself booked.

The linesman flagged for offside but the West Brom man knocked it in anyway, picking up a yellow.

He was a) onside b) deaf to the whistle given the noise.

Very harsh.

I think this comment from one reader below sum ups neatly the ambivalence felt towards Robbie by a lot of Irish football fans for some reason.

“I’ve had unkind thoughts about Robbie Keane this season but we can’t deny his fantastic service and strike rate for our national team. I salute you Mr Keane. We really need this win tonight especially with the Russians winning 3-1 earlier.”

Why isn’t our 50-goal skipper a universally-loved personality throughout the country?

Oooh, we were lucky there. Pandev got in behind O’Shea, who was pulling and dragging at the Inter Milan striker until they both fell inside the box.

The German ref quickly waved away and penalty claims, prompting a chorus if boos from the home fans. That could have been disastrous.

David Forde is warming up on the sideline, we’re told by Tony O’Donoghue, while the team doctor has supplied Ireland’s keeper with a drink.

Keith Andrews is playing with a super-jar of vaseline on his scalp after a knock of heads.

John Giles said before kick-off that though it’s bad news the clownish keeper from the Aviva Stadium game is out – it doesn’t say much for his understudy.

Bogatinov has shown why Ireland are shooting on sight just now as he fumbled a free kick into the six-yard box but, inexplicably, there was no-one following it up.

Shay Given just clattered Darren O’Dea in clearing a high ball deep into the box.

The Ipswich man looks groggy as is receiving attention but as Ronnie Whelan says: “the ball’s not in the back of the net”. He’s not wrong.

Football journalist Paul Buttner tweets this gem: “Richie Baker last Irishman to score winner in Skopje….Shels 1-0 Sloga Jugomagnet, 2000.”

Impress you friends, ladies and gentlemen.

GOAL! Macedonia 0 Ireland 2 Robbie Keane 35′

That’s number 51 for Robbie. And it was a gift.

The Macedonia defender tried to play it back to his keeper first-time, but fluffed the pass badly. It wasn’t an easy finish from there but Keane dispatched it coolly.  Ireland are in the driving seat now but it’s clearly crucial there isn’t one conceded before the break.

Tony O’Donoghue – sounding pretty depressed – reports however that Shay Given has a groin injury and will try to stay on.

PENALTY FOR MACEDONIA!

What a let-off. They miss the penalty, crashing it off the crossbar.

John O’Shea had given it away, kicking out at Pandev foolishly. Still 2-0 to Ireland.

O’Dea and O’Shea are struggling badly – though the experienced Manchester United man looks like the junior partner tonight.

Slovakia, meanwhile, have beaten Andorra by just the single goal. But they’ve got the three points.

We’re in injury time in Skopje now.

HALF-TIME Macedonia 0 Ireland 2; Keane (7, 35)

Well that was eventful. Ireland had the ball in the net three time – two count. Robbie has his 50th and 51st goals while Macedonia missed a one-on-one with Given and crashed a penalty off the bar.

According to the George Hamilton, we have ‘two centre halves who never played before’. They look like it in fairness.

Join us for what will be a long 45 minutes – and let us know your thoughts on the first period in the usual ways.

For those who were watching Britain’s Got Talent or making their tea or something, here’s Ireland’s first goal.

Take a bow, Robbie.

I’m no polyglot, but John Giles is calling Pandev, ‘Pondoff’.

Okay boy and girls, let’s do this.

What are the odds the defence will do their job properly, we’ll score an early, game-killing goal, no one will be sent off and we all go to bed early?

Shay Given has been given a pain-killing jab. I’m not saying John O’Shea should be administered with a Mr T type injection, but judging by the comments on our Facebook and Twitter, you’re not impressed with him out there in computer land.

This one is doing the rounds online. One is a comedy character kicking his superior up the backside, the other is Fr Ted rooting Bishop Brennan.

Keane is working like a demon, forcing his Irish team-mates to push up the pitch and not fall into that familiar pattern of ours.

In the first half too he showed a vocal leadership which is often pretty rare, balling McGeady out of it for not clearing his lines.

Pandev puts the ball into the Irish net but the ref calls it back for a handball from the tricky Inter striker. That’s a warning though, if one were needed.

First shot of Trap shouting at Tardelli there. I can relax now.

Shane Long is about to be introduced, one would presume, for Simon Cox. Judging by our poll this week, 85% of you will be pleased.

Those of us with money on Cox to score, less so.

Whelan looked to be ‘done’ as is the football parlance by a crunching tackle but hops up pretty quickly.

Moments later Cox is indeed hooked off and Shane Long gets on for his first taste of action since last Monday’s Championship play-off defeat at Wembley.

His introduction was delayed, we’re told, because the lino insisted he change the white strapping on his socks.

The substitute Gjurovski has looked fairly lively since his introduction and he just made Given work for his appearance fee with a curling shot. The Ireland keeper does well to put it behind.

The Skopje crowd have woken up now having been shaken by a spell of Macedonian pressure. As Bollo says in the Mighty Boosh: I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Is it time for a change, Trap? The home side are bossing it at the moment and have been for 10 minutes.

Apart from the aforementioned sub keeper David Forde and the already-introduced Long, who’s on the bench? Paul McShane, Seamus Coleman, Keith Fahey, Andrew Keogh, Kevin Foley.

The sting – dare I say it – seems to be gone out of Macedonia after a sustained period of pressure.

There’s five minutes of normal time to go  and there’s a few gaps opening up at the back as the so-called Red Lions push on.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but this is the table after Russia and Slovakia’s earlier games. (via UEFA)

We’re in the final minutes but Macedonia have a free kick in a proverbial ‘dangerous area’…. but it’s well over.

I’m starting to relax now.

Robbie Keane gets Ronnie Whelan’s man-of-the-match award. Do you agree?

FULL TIME Macedonia 0 Ireland 2

That was massive. And less traumatic than usual. Next up is Slovakia in the tie that will probably decide our fate.

What was your assessment?

Fascinating discussion on committment and communication issues within the Irish camp on RTE.

Billo puts it to Liam Brady that he’s a huge loss to the set-up, having been a conduit between the two Italians and the young players. Chippy looks half embarrassed and deflects the question.

Whoever had 10.25pm for the first Stephen Ireland reference, you can claim your prize at the back of the hall.

Robbie: “It’s been a great couple of weeks for us, it was important we carried on. Defensively we were solid. From myself and Coxy to Shay, so well done to the lads.

“It’s always nice as a striker to score goals but the win is more important than Robbie Keane scoring goals.”

Robbie on Ireland’s away form: “It’s been terrific and it’s important we keep that going, it was a great team performance and we need to keep it going now.”

To be honest, I didn’t hear much after he referred to himself in the third person, but that’s the way Adrian Russell is.

Trap: “A good evening, I am very happy. Very happy for our players, our support, all the Irish people because that is a very great result.

We want result and when it’s possible to make a show but this evening the result was more important because we knew the Russia result.

We are top and its important we continue this way. We didn’t concede a goal and when we didn’t have the ball we all worked.”

So let’s call it a night and a season. Ireland break for the summer with 13 points in the bag, along with Russian and Slovakia.

It’s still all to play for.