Northern Ireland v Bosnia

Words William Campbell

THERE’S SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT INTERNATIONAL GAMES IN SEPTEMBER

I have always liked our September home international matches. Not quite sure why exactly, although there is perhaps something therapeutic about getting back to the international stage just as the summer dies.

Of course an analysis of the facts will show that not all September games have resulted in wins. Defeat and disappointment will remain to be part of the September story as well. However their existence merely serves to provide a striking counterpoint to the elation of victory and triumph. Who wants to remember Eidur Gudjohnsen destroying us a few days prior to that famous 3-2 victory over Spain? It is much better to remember the battling triumph over the dogged Azerbaijanis thanks to Stuart Elliott’s free-kick and Warren Feeney’s penalty that beat a path to the glorious 1-0 victory over England. So tonight we start a new competition, forge a new history. It is our first game in the new UEFA Nations League and our first senior international game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Regardless of the outcome we will have broken our duck in both cases. Let us hope that September 2018 will remain emblazoned on our memories for many years.

And, of course, we can look forward to the crisp autumn nights and another exciting football season after a barren month or two for the international side. Perhaps it is the sense that, in those early September weeks, summer is not quite gone, and with the children back to school the weather will inevitably pick up. Maybe it is the haze of nostalgia through which we review the past. You know the sort of thing: all summers were sunny, ice creamwas much tastier, you could have a good night out on half a crown, no-one worried about where they had put their mobile phone or fretted over a rogue social media message. Ah, happy days indeed! Maybe my view is coloured by some more recent memorable performances at this time of year. Who can forget the dramatic backdrop of the red sky last year while Jonny Evans and Chris Brunt were putting the Czech Republic to the sword on our way to the World Cup play-offs in November? In the early years of this century September was David Healy Time. 2005 and 2006 saw him at the height of his powers and the memorable and wonderful goals to sink Sven Goran Eriksson’s mighty England and a year later the seemingly unbeatable Spanish. Those were hot, humid and heady nights of international football bliss. And definitely the stuff of legend, providing fans with never-to-be-forgotten ‘I was there’ moments. On our journey to the Euro finals in 2016 how could we forget the heart-stopping injury time Kyle Lafferty equaliser against Hungary that kept us moving forward and ended the Magyars’ fleeting hopes of usurping us in the qualification table? A year earlier, in September 2014, we had gone to Budapest and with late Niall McGinn and Kyle Lafferty goals turned around a 1-0 deficit to make it a tremendous away win which set us on our way to the Euros.

The amazing red sky which provided a backdrop for the game against Czech Republic last September.

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