In the post match press conference Nigel Worthington was quick to praise his players in what he thought was an encouraging exercise in our preparations for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in September.
It wasn't pretty but there again it was never going to be. Friendlies are notoriously shite in general and Windsor is no exception. It was just a little gut-wrenching that down the road at Croke our republican brethren were enjoying a carnival with beautiful Brazil as guests. Why did we get Bulgaria?
That said, they were no push over. Throughout the first half they played an accurate long ball game, difficult to defend and offering little by way of allowing us to go forward. Petrov's goal, although kindly awarded to Jonny Evans, saw a toiling Gillespie embarrasses with pace to lead the inevitable.
The second half however saw us dominate in possession and squeezed some great performances from, most notably, midfield and Stephen Davis. This was an experiment afterall and although looking slightly out of his depth in the discipline department, Martin Paterson coped well. Peter Thompson didn't get too much of a look-in along with Alan Mannus but neither looked out of place.
Worthington singled out Steve Davis for an outstanding performance. Although having a torrid time with his Norn Iron team mates at Craven Cottage, Davis excelled and should prove an asset to Rangers in their SPL title bid.
"I thought Steven Davis looked back to where he was when he was an Aston Villa player," said Worthington.
"I saw that earlier in the week and I mentioned it to him. I hope he can keep that up because Steven Davis in that form and mood is a very good player.
"I wanted Damien to start the game because of his hamstring problems but I'm delighted for Steve after his second-half performance because that was the proper Steven Davis."
"I was delighted with the exercise," he added. "Bulgaria are a very good team and they have shown that.
"I was delighted with my players and in the last 25 minutes we really took the game to them.
"Overall it was a good exercise. I thought defensively we were very solid against some very good players and we stuck to our task.
"We passed the ball well at times and created some chances. The last 20 minutes is what I am looking for from start to finish."
Worthers was also happy with the performances of his second-half substitutes Alan Mannus, Peter Thompson and Martin Paterson.
"I was very pleased with them and it's a great exercise giving young players an opportunity to show what they can do."
Bulgaria coach Plamen Markov heaped praise on his match winner Petrov.
"This was a good challenge for us," he said. "I am pleased because we needed this kind of performance.
"Martin is a player who is getting better and better and he got the goal for us. Today he was very useful for our team.
"Northern Ireland are a good team but we had injuries and I am pleased with the performances of the player who have come into the team."
Final Score: N Iron (0) 0 Bulgaria (1) 1
Teams:
Northern Ireland: Taylor, McAuley, McCartney, Hughes, Evans, Clingan, Gillespie, Johnson, Healy, Lafferty, Brunt.
Subs: Mannus, Baird, Sproule, Webb, Paterson, Davis, Thompson, Robinson, Craigan.
Bulgaria: Petkov, Angelov, Venkov, Tunchev, Tomasic, Milanov, Martin Petrov, Yanchev, Georgiev, Berbatov, Lazarov.
Subs: Ivankov, Karaslavov, Dimitrov, Popov, Domovchiyski.
Ref: Douglas McDonald (Scotland) |
