Pole Position
Sat, March 29th 2009
Northern Ireland tonight beat Poland 3-2 in a well fought out show down at Windsor Park.
In a spirited performance The Ulstermen have managed to turn round their fortunes to find themselves perched at the top of Group 3, albeit having played at least a game more than anyone else in the Group. Granted, it was a poor performance by the poles, but this didn't stop the celebrations of a packed Windsor Park following goals from Warren Feeney, Jonny Evans and what can only be described as Gaff Of The Century own goal by Zewlakow
This piles more pressure on the visitors as both teams will not settle for anything less that six points. Borussia Dortumund's Jakub Blaszczykowski has been recalled for the game which is a boost for Beenhakker.
The match was marred by violence both before, during and after the game - something which is rarely seen at Northern Ireland matches. This will dent the pride of 99% of Northern Ireland supporters proud that they have won awards for their good behaviour. Numerous Poles made their way from their homeland and from England to join the many Polish nationals living in the Province. But the strong presence of Polish Ultras in and around Windsor Park spelt trouble from the outset as anyone seen in a green shirt was set aside for treatment. Police were warning home fans not to go to the ground early despite advice to the contrary earlier in the week from the IFA.
Regardless, this was not going to spoil the day and Northern Ireland can now relax a little before Wednesday's game against Slovenia. The icing on the cake came when Celtic's keeper Boruc was guilty of the most calamitous error on 61 minutes when he allowed Zewlakow's back-pass to bobble into an empty net as his mis-kick clearance attempt gifted Northern Ireland a third goal. It truly was hilarious. OK, so it was cruel bobble but few cared.
Saganowski eventually pulled one back for the Poles in injury time - something Ulstermen have been guilty of too often, which, without Boruc's blunder would probably have sealed our fate and subsequent hopes of qualification for South Africa would have disappeared.
Final Score: N Ireland 3 (Feeney 10, Evans 47, Zewlakow og 61) Poland 2 (Jelen 27, Saganowski 92)
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