Northern Ireland 0 – 0 Wales

Northern Ireland’s 3rd meeting with Wales in the last coupla years failed to have anywhere near as much excitement as the previous two, however the injury-hit NI team gave a good account of themselves and were definitely the better side.

Kyle Lafferty had a good chance in the opening minutes of the game when brilliantly picked out by Brunt, but when he eventually got a shot in it was straight at Coyne. At the other end, the man with no neck and his Welsh teammates had a few dangerous attacks, but the defence managed to stop Maik Taylor having to make a save.
In the second half, Ivan Sproule showed his pace (and lollipops – where did he learn them?!) to leave the Welsh defenders bedazzled on numerous occasions, but the end product wasn’t quite there and the most he got was a few corners. We had 2 free kicks in dangerous positions, with Brunt’s hitting the foot of someone in the wall, and Gillespie’s comfortably saved. Early in the half Sammy Clingan lofted a ball in, which was hardly meant to be a shot, but Coyne had to scramble to tip it over.

The introduction of Grant McCann for Clingan added a few extra sparks to Norn Iron’s display, and he hit the bar with a shot from 19 yards. The ball came back to Gillespie, but his goalbound effort was blocked. Brunt had a similar rebound-chance to score, but fired inches wide from a good position.
All 5 subs came on. Ingham played a whole half, didn’t have much to do, but didn’t put a foot wrong. After Lafferty’s withdrawal, we were never going to score through Peter Thompson, and the game petered out into a rare goalless home draw. We were all over them in the second half though. But it was a good performance. The defence were really solid, including Capaldi (made 1 mistake maybe, but Duff made 1 too), and the starting midfield and forwards always looked a threat.

NORTHERN IRELAND: Taylor (Ingham, ht), Duff, Craigan (Webb, 79), Hughes, Capaldi, Gillespie, Davis, Clingan (McCann, 60), Brunt, Sproule (Shiels, 67), Lafferty (Thompson, 68).

Northern Ireland 0 – 0 Wales

Northern Ireland’s 3rd meeting with Wales in the last coupla years failed to have anywhere near as much excitement as the previous two, however the injury-hit NI team gave a good account of themselves and were definitely the better side.

Kyle Lafferty had a good chance in the opening minutes of the game when brilliantly picked out by Brunt, but when he eventually got a shot in it was straight at Coyne. At the other end, the man with no neck and his Welsh teammates had a few dangerous attacks, but the defence managed to stop Maik Taylor having to make a save.
In the second half, Ivan Sproule showed his pace (and lollipops – where did he learn them?!) to leave the Welsh defenders bedazzled on numerous occasions, but the end product wasn’t quite there and the most he got was a few corners. We had 2 free kicks in dangerous positions, with Brunt’s hitting the foot of someone in the wall, and Gillespie’s comfortably saved. Early in the half Sammy Clingan lofted a ball in, which was hardly meant to be a shot, but Coyne had to scramble to tip it over.

The introduction of Grant McCann for Clingan added a few extra sparks to Norn Iron’s display, and he hit the bar with a shot from 19 yards. The ball came back to Gillespie, but his goalbound effort was blocked. Brunt had a similar rebound-chance to score, but fired inches wide from a good position.
All 5 subs came on. Ingham played a whole half, didn’t have much to do, but didn’t put a foot wrong. After Lafferty’s withdrawal, we were never going to score through Peter Thompson, and the game petered out into a rare goalless home draw. We were all over them in the second half though. But it was a good performance. The defence were really solid, including Capaldi (made 1 mistake maybe, but Duff made 1 too), and the starting midfield and forwards always looked a threat.

NORTHERN IRELAND: Taylor (Ingham, ht), Duff, Craigan (Webb, 79), Hughes, Capaldi, Gillespie, Davis, Clingan (McCann, 60), Brunt, Sproule (Shiels, 67), Lafferty (Thompson, 68).

Squad for Small Part of England

Carroll (who surely would have started), Evans, Baird, Johnson, Feeney, Jones and Healy all injured. Quinn was originally left out but got injured anyway, and Elliott is left out despire not suffering from any injury problems except the breathing difficulties which have left him unable to complete a full match since the start of December. With Baird out, hopefully Giggs doesn’t play much as he tore Duff apart last time.

Goalkeepers
Maik Taylor ( Birmingham City)
Michael Ingham (Wrexham)
Defenders
Tony Capaldi ( Plymouth Argyle)
Stephen Craigan (Motherwell)
Aaron Hughes (Aston Villa)
Michael Duff ( Burnley)
Sean Webb ( Ross County)
Midfielders
Grant McCann ( Barnsley)
Steve Davis (Aston Villa)
Keith Gillespie ( Sheffield United)
Sammy Clingan ( Nottingham Forest)
Chris Brunt ( Sheffield Wednesday)
Forwards
Kyle Lafferty ( Burnley)
Ivan Sproule (Hibernian)
Dean Shiels (Hibernian)
Peter Thompson (Linfield)
I would play:
Taylor
Duff – Craigan – Hughes – Capaldi
Gillespie – Davis – Clingan – Brunt
Sproule – Lafferty

Squad for Small Part of England

Carroll (who surely would have started), Evans, Baird, Johnson, Feeney, Jones and Healy all injured. Quinn was originally left out but got injured anyway, and Elliott is left out despire not suffering from any injury problems except the breathing difficulties which have left him unable to complete a full match since the start of December. With Baird out, hopefully Giggs doesn’t play much as he tore Duff apart last time.

Goalkeepers
Maik Taylor ( Birmingham City)
Michael Ingham (Wrexham)
Defenders
Tony Capaldi ( Plymouth Argyle)
Stephen Craigan (Motherwell)
Aaron Hughes (Aston Villa)
Michael Duff ( Burnley)
Sean Webb ( Ross County)
Midfielders
Grant McCann ( Barnsley)
Steve Davis (Aston Villa)
Keith Gillespie ( Sheffield United)
Sammy Clingan ( Nottingham Forest)
Chris Brunt ( Sheffield Wednesday)
Forwards
Kyle Lafferty ( Burnley)
Ivan Sproule (Hibernian)
Dean Shiels (Hibernian)
Peter Thompson (Linfield)
I would play:
Taylor
Duff – Craigan – Hughes – Capaldi
Gillespie – Davis – Clingan – Brunt
Sproule – Lafferty

Romania reaction

– Apparently Sammy Clingan was our main man:
Clingan was the man of the match for Northern Ireland with a magical creative display and his performances on this US Tour should have convinced boss Lawrie Sanchez that he is the player to replace the suspended Damien Johnson during the two opening European qualifiers. “I’ve really enjoyed this trip and it’s been exciting to be involved,” admitted Clingan. “The manager decided to go with me in both games and I’m grateful to him for having faith in me.

Steve Davis
– Jimmy Quinn’s sending off was harsh, and Romania were 15 miles offside in the build up to their first goal. Steve Davis takes up the story:
“It was James’ first real tackle and I thought it was should have been a yellow card at most. But to send him off that was harsh. He allowed their first goal even though one of their players was definitely offside. I thought these decisions killed the game. It was disappointing but we’ll put it down to experience.
“I’m pleased we didn’t give in and I actually thought we had more chances than they did. The difference was they took their opportunities – we unfortunately didn’t. We can take heart that we actually troubled their keeper a great deal – that was an improvement on last Sunday when we never really tested the Uruguay goalkeeper.”
– Alan Blayney is happy to wait about for more NI chances:
“Even though we lost and at one stage I thought we were going to get hammered I really enjoyed the experience,” insisted Blayney. Now I want more but I’m prepared to wait.
“I’m only 24 and know there are people ahead of me in the pecking order for Northern Ireland. Maik Taylor, Roy Carroll and Michael Ingham have all been about the squad for years so I’ll just have to wait for my opportunity to arise again.”
Blayney moved to Doncaster Rovers in the January transfer window and has been enjoying regular first team football with the club. He signed a two and half year contract with Rovers and even though his summer holidays are just about to start he is already itching to get back playing. Blayney adds: “I’m really looking forward to next season – things are looking up for the club. We will be moving into a new stadium and there is genuine optimism that we will do well. I’m enjoying my football at the moment.”

Uruguay 1 – 0 Northern Ireland

A young Northern Ireland side gave a good account of themselves in America yesterday, despite going down 1-0 to Uruguay following a 33rd minute wonder-goal from Fabian Etoyanoff. However, they had keeper Michael Ingham to thank for keeping the scoreline down. Steve Davis became the youngest player to ever captain Norn Iron, and Lawrie Sanchez featured 17 of his 18 man squad, with keeper Alan Blayney the only man missing out. Sproule and Quinn started up front, with Jeff Hughes on the left wing (yes, Hughes who plays left back for his club at left wing, and Capaldi who plays left wing for his club at left back – but we want Capaldi getting as much experience at LB as possible). Steve Jones started on the right, but swopped with Ivan at half time.

LS on his first away friendly defeat:
“For such a young side, I’ve got to give credit to our team. You never like to lose but I’m pleased if we’re going to lose with that kind of effort.”
NORTHERN IRELAND: Ingham, Duff (Webb 82), Murdock (McAuley 82), Craigan, Capaldi, Jones (Thompson 60), Davis, Clingan (M Hughes 82), J Hughes (Shiels 75), Quinn (Lafferty 75), Sproule


BBC Photo Gallery

Very Young Squad for America

Lawrie Sanchez’ squad for the games against Uruguay and Romania in the US of A is missing loads of key players, with the most experienced keeper being Michael Ingham! There are 6 uncapped players, namely keeper Alan Blayney, defenders Sean Webb and Jeff Hughes, midfielders U21 captain Sammy Klingon and Mark Hughes and striker Kyle Lafferty.
It’s a great chance for some of the youngsters. Jeff Hughes has had a great season at Lincoln, Sammy Clingan’s getting on well at new club Nottingham Forest and Kyle Lafferty has been having an immense time since his loan at Darlington. Big G, who will surely be playing his last games for NI as a Lincoln player and Michael Duff, will also have chances to try and haul themselves above each other in the pecking order.
Wonder who’ll be captain? Mad Murdock? Craigan? Jimmy Quinn?
Goalkeepers:
Michael Ingham (Wrexham)
Alan Blayney (Doncaster Rovers)
Defenders:
Colin Murdock (Rotherham United)
Stephen Craigan (Motherwell)
Tony Capaldi (Plymouth Argyle)
Michael Duff (Burnley)
Gareth McAuley (Lincoln City)
Sean Webb (Ross County)
Jeff Hughes (Lincoln City)
Midfielders:
Steve Jones (Burnley)
Sammy Clingan (Nottingham Forest)
Steve Davis (Aston Villa)
Ivan Sproule (Hibernian)
Mark Hughes (Oldham Athletic)
Forwards:
James Quinn (Peterborough United)
Peter Thompson (Linfield)
Dean Shiels (Hibernian)
Kyle Lafferty (Burnley)
LS: “Many of the senior players are not on this tour but I know what they can give me and I need to know what the players below that are like. If they are needed during the Euro qualifying campaign, I will know what to expect. This tour provides players with a chance to push their way into the squad for those upcoming qualifiers.”
Ross County manager Scott Leitch on Sean Webb:
“It’s great news for the club and it’s a real boost for the boy, too. He goes to America tomorrow and has a real chance to impress and get himself into the full international picture ahead of the Euro 2008 qualification campaign. Sean has done really well since returning to Ross County and we’re delighted he’s made the commitment to stay by signing a contract extension.”
In other news, Liverpool have released 20 year old keeper Paul Willis (ht Pete).

Wales at Windsor, 6th Feb 07

McEvilly called up but may not go

Wrexham striker Lee McEvilly has been called up to the Northern Ireland Squad for the USA tour, however injury may prevent him going. From the Wrexham website:
‘Obviously there is a problem with Lee still recovering from a recurrence to the stress fracture he suffered before Christmas, which kept him out for over three months and then resurfaced in mid-April. The player is still having treatment for the injury and is due to see a specialist only two days before the Irish party depart for New York on May 19.
The Irish FA have been made aware of the problem and will monitor Lee’s progress over the coming weeks to see if there is any chance of him travelling.
Boss Denis Smith would love to see the player add to the one Irish cap he already has from his time with Rochdale:
“Lee has only played a handful of matches since Christmas, so could certainly do with the games, and it would be great to see him playing at international level again. His chances don’t look too good at the moment, but we will have to see how the injury improves over the next few weeks.” ‘

McEvilly called up but may not go

Wrexham striker Lee McEvilly has been called up to the Northern Ireland Squad for the USA tour, however injury may prevent him going. From the Wrexham website:
‘Obviously there is a problem with Lee still recovering from a recurrence to the stress fracture he suffered before Christmas, which kept him out for over three months and then resurfaced in mid-April. The player is still having treatment for the injury and is due to see a specialist only two days before the Irish party depart for New York on May 19.
The Irish FA have been made aware of the problem and will monitor Lee’s progress over the coming weeks to see if there is any chance of him travelling.
Boss Denis Smith would love to see the player add to the one Irish cap he already has from his time with Rochdale:
“Lee has only played a handful of matches since Christmas, so could certainly do with the games, and it would be great to see him playing at international level again. His chances don’t look too good at the moment, but we will have to see how the injury improves over the next few weeks.” ‘