His was the last ever full senior international goal to be scored at Dalymount Park.
But David Kelly has no recollection of his match-winning strike in September 1990 against Morocco.
“Go on, remind me,” he says.
A quick search through YouTube throws up nothing.*
A lost goal. One of four that Kelly scored at the Phibsboro ground, where he made his debut three years earlier against Israel and scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 friendly win.
He remembers that one alright.
“I have very, very fond memories of Dalymount Park,” Kelly (57) said.
“I played my first game for Ireland there and I was fortunate enough to score a hat-trick in it, which is the thing dreams are made of.
“I do remember the atmosphere, to be fair, because all my family came over. I met family and friends from Ireland who I hadn’t seen before.
“There were loads of people at the game and the first game was very successful from a personal point of view.
“The atmosphere was really good. I have nothing but fond memories of the ground as a whole, really.
“It’s funny, I went to a talk the other day where Paddy Kenny was the guest speaker.
“Paddy was very good, actually. He talks very fondly of playing for Ireland.
“You talk about different games and memories you have of different stadiums and places you’ve been to.”
This attempted trip down memory lane comes as Morocco prepare for their World Cup semi-final against France tonight.
There are serious Ireland-England vibes to this one. A former colony against its one-time oppressor, French-born players lining out against Didier Deschamps’ side…
And for Morocco, even though they made the last-16 in 1986, this is their supercharged Italia 90 moment.
After Ireland bowed out at the quarter-final stage against Italy in Rome, it was the north Africans who provided Jack Charlton’s side with their next opposition.
On the one and only occasion that they faced Ireland, they slinked off home with a 1-0 reversal, thanks to Kelly’s 74th minute strike.
An impressive attendance of 19,450 was recorded that night, when the ‘Home of Irish Football’ bid farewell to the senior international game (although 18 years later just over 4,000 fans would turn up there to see a Giovanni Trapattoni selection take on Nottingham Forest in an unofficial match).
It was an impressive Irish team, with Kelly, Niall Quinn and a young Mark Kelly in attack.
“It’s sad when players aren’t able to fulfil their potential. He was an excellent player,” David said of his namesake, who was forced to retire a year later through injury.
Packie Bonner was in goal; Denis Irwin, Mick McCarthy, David O’Leary and Steve Staunton in defence, and Ray Houghton, Ronnie Whelan and Andy Townsend making up the 11.
Dalyer had been used far less frequently as an international venue by the 1980s.
There was a scoreless draw with France in ‘89, the thumping of Israel in ‘87, friendlies against Italy (1-2), Mexico and Poland (two 0-0s).
The last competitive match that had taken place there was an 8-0 hammering of Malta in November 1983, a result that still stands as Ireland’s biggest ever win at senior men’s level.
Lansdowne Road would soon become the permanent base for the Boys in Green.
And while it was beginning to crumble by the time it received a major facelift in the mid-noughties, Kelly pined for the older grounds.
“Let’s call it worn. It was worn well,” he said of Dalymount.
“I’m very much for the historical stadiums. We haven’t got many over here in England anymore.
“There aren’t many of the older grounds any more because of improvements and health and safety, and I get that, because everyone wants to feel safe going to a game.”
Yet there was a charm to Dalymount, where the former Leicester, Wolves and Newcastle striker scored almost half his nine senior Ireland goals.
“The atmosphere was great, because everything bounced around,” he said.
“We had just come back from Italy and our next game was in Dalymount? It was slightly smaller, let’s say that. But it was equally as noisy.”
So what of Morocco, the shock World Cup semi-finalists?
Kelly has been glued to this year’s tournament and he has been impressed by the first ever African side to make it this far.
He said: “All these years later, Morocco are a completely different team, aren’t they?
“There are huge differences between the team that’s in the semi-final and the team we played all those years ago.”
They have picked off Belgium, Spain and Portugal so far in Qatar, and have drawn with fellow semi-finalists Croatia.
So, does he fancy them against a French side with superstars such as Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud?
“I’ve watched all of the World Cup. There have been an awful lot of shocks and results that the bookies must be absolutely delighted with,” he replied.
“Everybody’s bankers from early on are going home.
“But I’d absolutely rule them out. Okay, I wouldn’t say no chance. In a two-horse race there’s always the possibility.
“But I just think - and I could be miles wrong here and have egg on my face - that France will be in the final.”
*After our conversation, a video of the goal emerges on Twitter with Kelly producing a classic poacher’s finish.
We send it to him via WhatsApp and he replies: "Bloody hell, that was a better goal than I remember!"
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