#Daretodream is the hashtag which accompanied Northern Ireland’s
fantastic result against Finland at the end of March, but should we begin
thinking about a funderland in France next summer?
With Michael O’Neill’s men four points clear in second position and only
one point of the lead in Group F, no doubt there are many amongst us who are
already packing their bags and planning out for an European Championship finals
experience. However, with the campaign only half way through it is
understandable how some are having sleepless nights already, especially with
memories of Black September 2007 fresh in many a mind.
For those of you who are at a loss to the Black September 2007
reference, cast your memory back to that year when Lawrie Sanchez was King of
Northern Ireland having taken the scalps of Spain in that historic 3-2 Windsor
win and led us on a run of four wins, a draw and a loss in our European
Championships campaign. With a similar exuberance as we are feeling now, dreams
were in the making for what was believed could be our first visit to the finals
of that competition.
Then things began to unravel with Lawrie following the lure of the
English Premiership to Fulham and beige Nigel stepping into his shoes.
Everything continued to seem rosy following a comprehensive win against
Liechtenstein at the end of August, leaving us three points of the pace with
five games remaining and the next two games deemed winnable against Icelandic
and Latvian sides who had been struggling. And then disaster struck with
Worthington deciding to try and make his mark on the team by dropping Craigan
and disrupting a winning formula.
First up came a 1-0 defeat in Riga when Chris Baird scored an own goal
to give the home side an unlikely win and just four days later it was Keith Gillespie’s
turn to put the ball in his own net, providing Iceland with a 2-1 victory
despite being under pressure for the majority of the game.
An excellent draw against Sweden and a victory over Denmark in a rain
swept Windsor Park were to follow, however the damage had already been done and
it was too much to expect for a victory against Spain away, Sweden to drop
points and the tie breaker to fall in our favour. In the end we finished six
points behind the Swedes, which indicates how crucial those two lost games in
September were.
Looking at the remaining fixtures list for this campaign, the month of
September again looks to play a crucial part in our qualifying hopes, with an
away trip to the Faroes on the cards followed by a home tie just three days
later against our closest rival Hungary.
It is difficult not to look at the permutations of possible results and
while we obviously want to go and win every game, a defeat against Romania in
June may not spell gloom, even if it is combined with a Hungary win away to
Finland.
That would leave Pál Dárdai’s side one point behind us, however it is
the next two games that could be the most significant to Northern Ireland.
A win over the Faroes would put the pressure on Hungary to take all
three points against Romania on the same evening, as nothing less will mean
that a win for Michael O’Neill’s men on Monday the 7th September
2015 will see us on our way to France. The scenario being that a win over the
Faroes and a point for Hungary will see us going into that Monday three points
ahead. A win will send us clear by six points with two games remaining, meaning
that the best Hungary could hope for is to draw level with us.
That of course would not be enough for them, as the tie break rules
state that if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group
matches, the higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the
teams in question will be used to separate them.
And could there be a more prefect date for that scenario to unfold and
seal our passage to France, with it being ten years to the day that a certain
Sir David Healy blasted the ball into the Windsor net to secure one of our most
famous victories ever against England?
#Daretodream……it really is hard not to!
