Well, it had to come... our honeymoon was over, and it was back to the thrills and spills of supporting Northern Ireland at a windy Windsor Park today.
In a fairly evenly matched game, we certainly had plenty of chances, yet the problem was that we were also exposed at the back, with holes appearing in the defences when we progressed. And so it was that we found ourselves 2-0 down coming up to halftime. And then the penalty that shouldn't have been. But thankfully, it was saved by big Maik Taylor.
So half time and 2-0 down... What could Lawrie Sanchez do to inspire the troops?
I'm not sure what he did, but lo and behold, Northern Ireland at the start of the second half were like a different side, pushing forward, making chances and putting pressure on the Welsh defence. For what seemed like ages and ages we were camped at the edge of the penalty box. And YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! Two goals within five minutes of the re-start meant that we were back to 2-2!!!!! Goals from Keith Gillespie (only his second goal in 11 years), and Steve Davis (our man of the match), meant that we were back in the game.
After that, it was back to the fairly even game, with both sides creating chances. And then the ref gave a free kick on the edge of our box, which was a blatant dive... and Giggs stepped up. And goal. 3-2 down, but that's ok - we still had about 20 minutes to get another equaliser and maybe even a winner. In another period of intense pressure, where we got about 6 corners in a row, with lots of shots etc, and two penalty claims that were both refused... and then the last few moments when we also sought to get the equaliser, but it just didn't come. 3-2 down. After the euphoria of beating England, we succumb to lowly Wales. Let's just hope we can get a result in Austria on Wednesday night, and bring the World Cup Qualifiers to a reasonable end, and look forward with renewed confidence to the next European Qualifiers!
On another note relatign to today's game, the crowd was quite disrespectful during the Welsh National Anthem... Neil was saying something about there being a history of the Welsh booing during 'The Queen' at previous games, but I didn't think it was right to boo or sing during their anthem.
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Hey, if cat calling during the anthem rattles the other team, fuck em. Nationalism is pretty much a load of bollocks anyway, might as well take advantage of it.
ReplyDeletewell like this welsh national anthem isn't really THE national anthem is it! so it deserves to get booed! the welsh are still british even tho they don't recongnise The national anthem! it stillis there national anthem!!!!
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