Robbie Brady, the visitors' goalscorer on 82 minutes, will grab the headlines, but the defensive work of Keogh laid the foundations for such a positive result for the Irish.

It would have been better if not for Edin Dzeko, who put an otherwise anonymous showing to one side to prod home an equaliser with five minutes to play.

Here, Sports Mole sorts the heroes from the villains overall.

Robbie Brady (C) of Ireland celebrates scoring a goal during the EURO 2016 Qualifier Play-Off First Leg match at Bilino Polje Stadium on November 13, 2015 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. © Getty Images

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Goal

Asmir Begovic: Literally had nothing to do in a quiet first half, but could have done more to prevent Ireland's goal after being beaten at his near post. (4/10)

Defence

Mensur Mujdza: Withdrawn on 50 minutes through injury. Had done little wrong. (6/10)

Emir Spahic: Stalked Murphy well and limited the Irish hitman to no shooting opportunities in either half. (6/10)

Toni Sunjic: Was nowhere to be seen when Brady galloped forward and drilled past Begovic. (4/10)

Ervin Zukanovic: Virtually untested defensively, but should have done much better when his first-half header was straight at Randolph. (5/10)

Midfield

Edin Visca: Caused Ward and Brady plenty of problems down the visitors' left-hand side, and often delivered excellent crosses but none were converted. (6/10)

Edin Cocalić: The defender was deployed in central midfield, though few would have known it. He was also excellent in possession, very composed. Fine showing. (7/10)

Miralem Pjanic: Oozed class in possession but his final ball was lacking on occasion. Also should have done better with a first-half effort. (5/10)

Senad Lulic: His delivery was woeful in both halves as his tame execution from the left let his teammates down time and time again. (5/10)

Attack

Vedad Ibisevic: He and strike partner Dzeko looked on a different wavelength, though he did send a first-half volley just wide of Randolph's post. Other than that, did very little and will be lucky to keep his place on Monday. (4/10)

Edin Dzeko: Arguably the hosts' best player in terms of profile, but he did not live up to his reputation tonight after being silenced by the wonderful Keogh for the most part, though he wriggled away from Clark late on to snatch an equaliser. (6/10)

Substitutes

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Goal

Darren Randolph: Pulled off an excellent second-half save in what proved the foundations for Ireland's result. Blameless for the goal. (6/10)

Defence

Seamus Coleman: Pulled off one or two excellent last-ditch tackles to snuff out half chances for the hosts. Could have been tighter to Lulic on occasion, whose delivery often let him down though. (6/10)

Richard Keogh: Brilliant in both halves as he silenced the often-lethal Dzeko, living up to his pre-match comments. Also blameless for the goal. (8/10)

Ciaran Clark: The centre-back was excellent for the most part but could perhaps have been tighter to Dzeko when he prodded home the equaliser. (6/10)

Stephen Ward: Did well at left-back considering he had not played a lot for Burnley this season, but did very little wrong tonight. (6/10)

Midfield

Jeff Hendrick: Did very little wrong or right in another underwhelming display from the right-winger. Plenty of defensive work, but could have added more in the final third. (4/10)

Glenn Whelan: Ireland's captain on the night looked nervous early doors with a number of misplaced passes, but he grew into the game well. (5/10)

James McCarthy: Made a couple of key interventions to break up Bosnian counter-attacks, though he was also hugely fortunate to avoid a booking which would have ruled him out of the second leg. (5/10)

Wes Hoolahan: Virtually anonymous in the first half, and did very little after the break before being replaced on the hour mark by McLean. (3/10)

Robbie Brady: Shirked his defensive duties at times, and his set-piece delivery was nowhere near as dangerous as it has been during the visitors' qualification campaign, though he did take his goal brilliantly. (6/10)

Attack

Daryl Murphy: The goalscoring burden fell on his shoulders, but international football continues to look a bridge too far for the Ipswich Town man. (4/10)