On a massive night for Irish - and Welsh - football, Martin O'Neill's men went out and rose to the occasion.
It started slowly, with Ireland entrenched in their own third for the first 10 to 15 minutes of the match and only getting a break from defending when hoofing the ball out of danger, but the early storm was weathered.
Ireland began to get a foothold in the game, and when Joe Allen was forced to leave the game after a collision with David Meyler we actually saw some passages of play in opposition territory.
This continued into the second half before Jeff Hendrick put the Welsh backline under pressure, stole ball, whipped in a low cross which Harry Arter dummied for James McClean to smash home with his right foot. Dreamland.
From then on we never looked really troubled. Wales got increasingly more desperate as they ran out of ideas, and Ireland played with a belief that suggested the players knew they were going to win.
Here is how we rated the Ireland players in what will go down as an historic performance.
Darren Randolph: 9
Pulled off a couple of impressive saves and came out to control his area well apart from one or two shaky moments with the handling. Our first choice keeper and someone who is getting more and more comfortable, played well tonight.
Cyrus Christie: 7
We really must give credit to Christie for the job he has done since coming into the team after Coleman's injury. Offered an outlet on the rare occasion when we ventured forward tonight and was solid at the other end of the pitch.
Shane Duffy: 9
Awarded the official MOTM for his work, Duffy was herculean in his ariel defending as he sent everything back where it came from all night long. Now one of our most important players.
Ciaran Clark: 8
Like Duffy, Clark was enormous from start to finish and has cemented his place at the heart of our defence for years to come.
Stephen Ward: 8
Arguably our best, certainly our most consistent player over the course of the campaign, Wardinho had another confident, quality performance tonight.
Davie Meyler: 8
Absolutely everywhere. Meyler is not the most talented footballer in this Ireland squad, but you'd be hard pushed to find anyone that works harder, and he's confident enough to show for the ball in midfield. Wore the armband like it belonged on his arm.
Harry Arter: 8
Ran his arse off while on the pitch and was a right pain in the backsides of the Welsh players throughout. Spikey, aggressive, a right little nuisance, his contribution to the goal can't be ignored as he showed superb awareness to step over the ball when others would have leathered it as hard as possible. Ausrtia away and Wales away, Arter has a place in our best XI.
Jeff Hendrick: 7
After 45 minutes we were sat here pondering what happened to the Jeff Hendrick we loved so much at Euro 2016, and then he showed up when it really mattered. The Burnley man has had a disappointing campaign, but went a long way to making us all forget that with his work for the goal.
Robbie Brady: 7
A solid performance from Brady who ran his heart out, as everyone did, and although he didn't quite have the impact in attacking areas, he put in a serious shift going the other way.
James McClean: 9
You beautiful bastard. Absolutely buried his chance, on his right peg no less, to put the cherry on top of a fully committed performance. This man is a bloody hero.
Daryl Murphy: 7
Felt so sorry for big Daryl as he had the unenviable task of chasing lost causes all night, but he never relented and gave the Welsh defenders a sniff. A good shift from the big man.
Substitutes: 8
This is basically a rating for Glenn Whelan who played the 'Gaviscon role' of soothing an otherwise potentially spicy situation to perfection. Thank you for that Glenn. Kevin Long was on to waste time and to get in the way, he did both of those things. Job well done.
COYBIG!
