Sam Vokes was the toast of Wales last night after reproducing his Wolves' supersub heroics at international level against Azerbaijan.

Sam, who came off the bench to earn Wolves a draw at Plymouth on the opening day of the season, delivered a repeat performance on his home Welsh debut only this time it was a crucial winner he notched with just eight minutes remaining.

Not a bad time to register his first goal for his country on his third appearance, not least as Sam had only arrived on the pitch as a replacement for Wolves' team-mate Dave Edwards on 73 minutes.

And it was enough to give Wales a crucial winning start to their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign at the Millennium Stadium.

"It was a great home debut and I was just buzzing," the 18-year-old striker said after the 1-0 win.

"It was good to get the call to come on and just a great feeling to score, a dream.

"I'd almost scored with a header just before and was gutted when that was saved but it was just good to get the goal in front of the home crowd.

"These are always hard games to play and hard teams to play against but the boys dug in and we got the result.

"Ched Evans and I did well when we came on as we know each other well because we've scored goals for Wales' Under-21 side.

"We have a good partnership and a good understanding. He has already scored for the senior side so I'm glad I have as well now"

Sam had joined up late with the Wales squad after staying at Wolves for treatment on a slight ankle injury, but it certainly paid dividends for a delighted Welsh boss John Toshack.

"Fortunately Sam got the goal that mattered and he'll take a lot away from that," he said.

"We've had a few injury problems this week and Sam stayed at Wolves until Wednesday just to make sure he was o-k.

"He came down and trained for a couple of days and was fit enough to be on the bench.

"There were a lot of balls knocking about in and around the six yard box in the first half and when it happened again Sam was in the right place to get the goal which ensures we're off to a good start."

Dave also impressed after winning the nod while Wayne Hennessey provided his customary excellent performance in goal to earn a clean sheet.

All three Wolves players are staying with the full Welsh squad for Wednesday's qualifier with Russia rather than joining up with the under-21's for their crucial fixture in Romania.

Striker Andy Keogh meanwhile came on as an 86^th minute substitute as the Republic of Ireland opened their World Cup qualification campaign with a 2-1 win against Georgia in Germany.

The Irish squad now travel to Montenegro for Wednesday's next qualifier.

Wolves' England-under-21 trio of Michael Kightly, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Richard Stearman are all due back following Friday's 2-0 win against Portugal at Wembley.

Kights was the only one to feature in the game, coming on as a late substitute as England's victory secured a spot in the play-offs for the European Championships.

PICTURED: Get in! Sam celebrates his crucial first international goal.