WALES 2 BOSNIA 2: Sparky's boys make history
Mark Hughes said before the game 'I want that record' and his players duly delivered by extending their unbeaten run to nine matches to claim their place in Welsh history, although they had to come back from behind TWICE to do it. This is the best run in their 127-year history, surpassing Jimmy Murphy's 1958 World Cup team and the excellent team of the early eighties under Mike England.
The day started in a positive manner for Wales when news filtered through the European qualifying group rivals Serbia and Montenegro had been held to a 2-2 home draw by previously pointless Azerbaijan, a result which leaves Wales four points clear in the race for Portugal 2004. With a home game looming against Azerbaijan in March then the omens are good for Hughes' men.
It started poorly last night though when after only five minutes, Galatasary winger, Elvir Baljiic skipped past debutant right back Rhys Weston to slot home past a beleaguered Gavin Ward to give the visitors a shock lead. The advantage only lasted three minutes, however, as Rob Earnshaw struck back with a superb finish. Craig Bellamy caused problems down the right, John Hartson met his cross and when the ball fell loose to Earnshaw on the edge of the area he swiveled before shooting in to the top left hand corner of the net.
It was a strike that particularly pleased Hughes as he explained: "It was a great goal. Robert's always trying to impress whenever he plays. He is such a bubbly character."
The goal failed to lift Wales though and the visitors regained the lead after 64 minutes when the ever-elusive Baljiic sent over a cross to the far post where Hamburg's Barbarez rose unmarked to restore their advantage. Again this seemed to spark Wales into life and in the 71st minute, Hartson was put clean through following a superb ball from Bellamy but his shot was well smothered by Hasagic.
However, the respite was brief as three minutes later the big Celtic front man bulldozed his way through and struck home a sweet shot from the edge of the area to restore parity. That finished the scoring but it was a disjointed performance from Wales who missed the injured duo of Mark Delaney and Ryan Giggs, as Hughes recognised.
"I accept that we didn't play particularly well but I was obviously pleased with the result," he said. "Bosnia caused us problems on the night and we can expect the same when we play Azerbaijan in our European Championship game next month. This game has enabled us to be better prepared for the big games ahead."
Hughes was aware that if Wales don't play at full tilt then it could be problematic. He added: "Our problem tonight was that the energy level was not as high as it had been in previous games. It is important to our style and makes a difference when we are not up to the pace as teams can then cause us problems."
NORTHERN IRELAND 0 FINLAND 1
It was more heartbreak for Sammy McIlroy as his team failed to hit the target for the sixth consecutive occasion at a mist shrouded Windsor Park. It was certainly not good preparation for the forthcoming fixtures against Armenia and Greece and manager and McIlroy was suitably crestfallen at the end.
He said: "I've praised the team in the dressing room and if they keep it going it will come - whether I am here to see it, I don't know. But Even though they gave me effort, pride and passion we still ended up with nothing from the game."
A first half that was almost reduced to farce because of poor visibility and even resulted in an orange ball being used before the best chance fall to Steve Lomas, who was the last player to score for the Irish back on February 13 2002. He met Keith Gillespie's free kick and with Jaaskelainen beaten, the ball thudded against his near post and out to safety.
This proved to be the turning point of the game as four minutes after the break, Finland struck. Sheffield Wednesday's Kuqi met a Kolkka corner and Roy Carroll only parried his powerful header. Unfortunately for him it fell straight to Sami Hyypia and he lashed the ball into the net from close range.
There was time for another scare for the Finns before the end as Northern Ireland piled on the pressure. Gillespie delivered another telling free kick and Andy Kirk's header rebounded off the upright and was cleared. When Aaron Hughes just missed Lomas' cross then you knew it was going to be another one of those days.
