Headline 'legends' as praise heaped on NI football team

Northern Ireland woke up on Thursday morning wondering whether it had all been a dream – did the national football side beat England 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park?

Well, there was no mistaking it as a glance at the morning's banner headlines showed.

Courtesy of a 73rd minute goal from Leed's David Healy, Lawrie Sanchez's men secured their first victory against England since 1972.

Local politicians immediately heaped praised on the boys in green with DUP leader Ian Paisley saying Northern Ireland had shown they could "beat the best" while UUP leader Sir Reg Empey described the win as "spectacular and well deserved".

National Radio 1 DJ Colin Murray, who broadcast live from Belfast on the day of the match, praised the Northern Ireland fans describing them as a "formidable twelfth man". "Windsor Park may only hold about 14,000 people but it sounded like there were 100,000 singing their hearts out for Northern Ireland," he said.

However, despite the local adulation, it was left to the national media to pour scorn on the victory by concentrating on England's "humiliation".

The Sun said Sven-Goran Eriksson's job was now hanging by a thread and that the 'Three Lions' had "crashed to a humiliating defeat" in Belfast.

The Daily Mirror said England suffered a "night of humiliation" against a team ranked joint 116th in the world while the Daily Star said the visitors had plunged to one of their most embarrassing defeats in their history.

However, the Times summed up the scornful English mood with contempt for the victor's performance.

"Twenty-four hours after claiming that his team would be a match for Brazil, Sven-Goran Eriksson's England were humiliated by a Northern Ireland team containing a left-back from Plymouth Argyle and a Peterborough United centre forward".

Locally, the Belfast Telegraph proclaimed it a night to remember for the province saying the victory would "go down as the night a new generation of Northern Ireland football legends were born".

"Unbelievable" their headline read. For every Northern Ireland fan at the game and at home or in the pub watching you couldn't sum it up any better!

(MB/SP)