It took a tennis-ball protest to serve as inspiration, but Conor Hourihane hit the ace to give Ireland a long overdue home victory.
Not since October 2017 have they won a competitive fixture here in Dublin and that is one of the reasons Mick McCarthy has replaced Martin O’Neill.
Also being chased out of town is John Delaney, the unpopular former chief executive who remains employed by the FAI but was the subject of supporter protest as tennis balls rained down from the stands during the first half.
It happened in the 33rd minute in recognition of Delaney's request to FIFA to make Ireland the 33rd team in the 2010 World Cup after the controversy of Thierry Henry's handball in their play-off match.
Hourihane stood over a free-kick for three minutes as stewards cleared the pitch and fans made a racket as he finally prepared to take aim 25 yards out.
There was an inevitability about what followed as the Aston Villa midfielder swept the ball into the back of the net for his first international goal.
It is not often you say you expected this Ireland team to score and they soon reverted to type as Georgia pressed for parity, Darren Randolph drawn into a smart save to deny Valerian Gvilia on the stroke of half-time.
The second half was not as good as the first for the hosts, who were given an almighty scare when Georgia captain Jaba Kankava smashed the post five minutes from time.
But Ireland held on to make it six points from their opening two matches and that will be of huge relief to McCarthy, who knows his time is up at the end of this Euro 2020 campaign, be that qualifying or the finals.
For the first half hour at least this was much more promising, a major improvement on the lack of imagination shown during Saturday's fortunate 1-0 win in Gibraltar.
Lone striker David McGoldrick was excellent and won a standing ovation when he departed late on, while Hourihane looks set to emerge as Ireland's new talisman.
And so it was that his expert strike proved the difference - McCarthy might just be asking those home fans to bring their tennis balls when they return here in June.
