NI goal drought continues

Northern Ireland football was brought back down to earth last night after the national side lost 1-0 to Armenia at Windsor Park.

Following positive 0-0 draws with Spain and Ukraine in their last two competitive games, Northern Ireland again failed to find the net in what turned out to be a miserable night for Sammy McIlroy's goal-shy side.

Chances went amiss for Steve Jones, who hit the bar, Andy Smith and David Healy.

However, it was the farcical Armenia goal which annoyed many fans. With Keith Gillespie pulling up injured half way through the first half, the Northern Ireland bench either refused to respond to his plight or they had no idea he was injured.

As a result Armenia piled the pressure on the right hand side - eventually scoring on 27 minutes as both Gillespie and midfielder Tommy Doherty struggled to keep up with play because of their on-field injuries.

Both men were eventually substituted, but by then it was too late, as a reshaped Northern Ireland side continued to fire blanks in front of goal - and in one or two instances could have fallen further behind, as Armenia also missed a handful of chances.

The only men to come away from last night's game with any credit were captain Aaron Hughes, goalkeeper Maik Taylor - who couldn't be faulted for the goal - and part-timer Andy Smith, who put many of his full-time colleagues to shame with his tireless endeavour.

Sammy McIlroy will now have to regroup his troops for next month's final Euro 2004 qualifying trip away to Greece - in the knowledge that if this run continues, his job will be under threat, despite only just signing a new two-year extension to his current contract.

(MB)