Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Northern Ireland go top: Stan to get reprieve?
Yep, heard the cheering from down below, now it’s all quiet because it’s all over... (till the pubs get out)… They just expect Healy to score and he does... Meanwhile, with a 1-0 against Slovakia, maybe some of the blatantly pernicious salami slicing of Stan will stop…
Mick Fealty @ 08:51 PM
And the Antrim hurlers beat the previously unbeaten Dublin in the NHL, 1-13; 0-12. just thought i’d mention it.
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:05 PMBELIEVE IT....
NORTHERN IRELAND
TOP OF THE LEAGUE!!!!!(Good to see Antrim winning as well!!)
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:09 PMunbelievable - stunning achievement! can’t see us qualifying, but who knows - fingers crossed!! well done ROI and England as well.
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:11 PMcant see us qualifying?
Spain held to a draw at home.
Lativa losing.We’re going to the Cup boyo!
We’re not Brazil, We’re Northern Ireland!
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:17 PMGod -swallows and summer come to mind!
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:19 PMGreat result for the lads in green! Eyes now turn elsewhere in Group F where Spain is currently drawing against Iceland.
Also, great result ROI!
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:19 PMIt will still be very difficult to qualify because coming ahead of two out of Denmark Spain and Sweden will be very hard even if Spain lose tonight.
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:23 PMYoure maybe right but none of the teams have looked unbeatable Slug and there has been many upsets-look at Liech. Latvia tonight. But if you’d said a couple of years ago we’d be top of the group even for a night I’d been happy to take that.
Are you watching Denis Wise? Ha! Ha!
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:30 PMBelfast Exile, don’t get me wrong its a great result and to be top of the table this far into the competition is wonderful!
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:32 PMGreat win for NI and another scrappy win for the Republic. Still nine points from 3 games is an improvement :)
Now if Stan could only find a way to buy David Healy !
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 09:41 PMBjorn Borg
Stefan Edberg
That Blonde Bird from Abba
In fact all of Abba
King Gustav
Chef from the Muppets....Your boys took a hell of a beating…
(Blatantly nicked from OWC)
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 10:14 PMWhat a great win again by Northern Ireland. Our Wee Country. For God & Ulster. G.A.W.A
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 10:16 PMEnjoy being the lead story on UEFA’s: front page
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 10:21 PMGreat result for Northern Ireland. We’re not Brazil.................
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 10:51 PMI thought Healey, Johnstone, Evans, Duff & Hughes especially were outstanding.
The atmosphere in the 15000 stadium was once again both electric and intimidating for the Swedes
- can we kill off this Maze Madness once and for all !!
- Give Rugby and Football the cash to do a joint 25,000 maximum stadium and give GAA the equivalent to invest in Casement or wherever.
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 10:58 PMHealy, you are an absolute star! Talented and modest - an utter gentleman.
John East Belfast, I have to say that being on the ground tonight I was overtaken with an insane belief that we should try and stay at an improved Windsor. In the cold light of day this is obviously silly, but the atmosphere tonight was just amazing. It is hard to imagine us playing anywhere else.
A large part of what makes the games so enjoyable these days is the lack of malice in the ground. The crowd is joyous, gets behind the team, but also maintains a strong ability to take the piss out of themselves.
Proud of the Wee Country.
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 11:17 PMMuch more of this and advocates of the Maze project will be saying we could fill it.
Of course, in the unlikely event that Northern Ireland fans in general warmed to the idea, watch those who say they support it then suddenly go off the notion.
;-)
The thing about Healy’s goals is this: where are the scrappy tap-ins? OK, he has scored several of them against poor opposition, but he still has to finish, and many of his finishes, and the variety of them, have been absolutely superb.
To think he couldn’t score when McIlroy was in charge - that shows how low the ebb was.
I think it’s going to take 25 points to qualify from this group, though, and while 9 is possible from the next three games, it wouldn’t be NI to take them, but even if we did at least one more performance like tonight’s is going to be needed from the last 3 games.
Still, as the 6th seeded team in the group, we would have taken 4th at the start, which is the worst we will finish now, so let’s hope for the best.
Leeds fans must be totally bewildered.
Onwards and upwards.
Posted by on Mar 28, 2007 @ 11:25 PMDo not forget that it is only under seven months ago a local sports journalist was campaigning for Lawrie Sanchez to get sacked.
He also broke the unwritten code of conduct by harassing Lawrie Sanchez on his way to a funeral.
One of the indeed deserves his P45 but which one?
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 12:03 AMI am extremely disappointed with the way the NI fixtures have been schedueld. We are now left with 4 big ties away from home and its unlikely that we’ll get Many points from them.
Lechenstein Home - 3 Points (Although I’m not taking it for granted)
Denmark Home - 1 point
Iceland Away- 1 point
Sweden Away - 0 Points
Spain Away- 0 Points
Malta Away - 1 PointI don’t fancy our chances unless we can pull of two wins away from home and pick up maximum points in our remaining home games.
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 12:31 AMDave,
Hate to break the news to you - we’re not in a group with Malta.However, we do have some difficult away games coming up but we do have Lichtenstein (sp) at home but then its the weaker teams that we sometimes struggle against.
Qualifiying will always be a massive task, particularly as the group doesnt have a runaway leader which in these circumstances would help OWC. However, it just comes down to the fact that.....
WE BELIEVE
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 12:57 AMAch, you have to feel for wee Rab Livingstone at times like these...and there have been so many in the past couple of years. :)
Poor wee pet - any time you want to clamber out of that vat of sectarian hatred, there’s a winning team with cross community support ready to welcome you, son :)Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 12:59 AMDave we play Lativa away 8th September , after Lechenstein. Not sure where you are getting Malta from!
To stand a realistic chance we need to beat Denmark at home, Lativa away, and then pick up at least 3/4 points from Iceland/Sweden/Spain. Its a very tough ask indeed.
This is a nightmare group! I honestly doubt if England could make it through against these teams.
But even if we end finishing third, it will have been a superb campaign. Progress in the ranking means that our next qualifying group will be easier, and this is a (mostly) young team.
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 01:11 AMMr O’Healy- Maybe I am missing an obvious joke but who is Rab Livingstone?
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 01:15 AMWhat we have during this campaign what we have not had for some time is a competent new defender in the form of Evans. Add to the mix Taylor, Hughes. Johnston, Gillespie, Davis and of course Healy which gives us a good team.
Realistically anything less than a win against Latvia (my mistake with Malta earlier), Lichenstein and Iceland then qualifying is out the door. We also need to do the double against either Spain or Sweden preferably both but this is a very tall order. Third would be good but we would be disappointed with it though.
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 01:20 AMNow why can’t Healey play like that for Leeds?!
Well done to Northern Ireland though, top of the league. I never thought I would ever see that. And in a group with Sweden and Spain too, both of whom you’ve beaten at home.
Maybe we’ll be seeing you in Austria/Switzerland next summer (thats if England qualify!).
Posted by on Mar 29, 2007 @ 02:20 AM
