Updated at 23.49

DARYL MURPHY WAS a relieved man as he scored his first goal in 23 international appearances to get Ireland out of jail tonight.

Murphy powerfully headed home Robbie Brady’s corner in the 81st minute to rescue a point for the Boys in Green in their opening World Cup 2018 qualifier.

“I had to get off the mark at some stage,” Murphy told RTÉ.

“To score here tonight and get off the mark, I’m just delighted.”

The Waterford native conceded that Ireland struggled to keep the ball at times, but felt it was a good point against a strong Serbia side.

“There were a few bad decisions and the pitch didn’t help — it was hard to get the ball down and play like we’d like to.

“I don’t think many teams will come here and get the result, so we can be quite happy with it.”

Of his goal, Murphy added: “I had a lot of time on it, there was no one near me, I had time to make a mess of it, but I made sure I got good contact on it.

“Hopefully there’ll be more to come.”

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