Michael Duff and Colin Murdock came into the Northern Ireland side for the injured Aaron Hughes and suspended Chris Baird, in the only two changes from the side which beat England.Wales started with Paul Jones in goal, with injury depriving Lewis Price of his debut. Danny Collins replaced the suspended Danny Gabbidon at the back while Mark Delaney returned to a flat back four. John Hartson was back from suspension and partnered Rob Earnshaw up front.The early exchanges were reminiscent of the old 'Home' International matches of the past, both teams with only pride to play for. The swirling wind acted as a twelfth man for both teams on occasions, however it was Wales who were producing the most positive football, despite being the away team, such was their confidence, that Davies was able to line up an outrageous shot from 35 yards that could well have gone in on a less windy day, the ball just drifting wide at the last moment. That effort seemed to galvanise the Irish, with Gillespie in particular finally beginning to exert some pressure on the previously untroubled Welsh defence, who proceeded to concede three corners in quick succession. Backed by an animated crowd who were obviously still remembering their victory over England, Northern Ireland started to get a real grip on the game, the Welsh, clearly missing the suspended Danny Gabbidon of West Ham Utd, were definitely beginning to look a little ragged to say the least. As so often happens in this type of closely fought encounter, Wales having dealt with the pressure that Ireland had been applying, promptly scored a well worked goal on the counter attack, a Ricketts pass found Simon Davies powering into the box, where he drilled in his shot from 12 yards just before the half hour. A piece of Ryan Giggs magic saw him turn back the years by nutmegging his opponent and then setting off on a mazey run before finally squaring the ball for Carl Robinson to score a cracking second goal for Wales, as he volleyed it home from eight yards for his first International goal, with just a few minutes remaining of the first half, it could have been so much worse for the home team had John Hartson converted the penalty questionably awarded just before the break. Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez must have delivered a rocket to his team at half time, because they looked a totally different outfit from the off for the second half.Keith Gillespie ended his International goal drought to give Northern Ireland hope after playing a neat one two with David Healy and slotting home from inside the area. With their tails up, Northern Ireland were suddenly in the ascendancy, and with Wales down to ten men while James Collins was off injured, sensationally drew level. Stephen Craigan hurled a huge long throw into the penalty area, and Steven Davis equalised by shooting home through a crowd of players, with only eight minutes of the second half played!. The home crowd, by this point in time, were urging their team on, creating a deafening roar as they hoped to witness yet another new chapter in Ireland's International resurgence, however that was not to be, as Ryan Giggs sent in the most exquisite of free kicks to beat Maik Taylor in the Northern Ireland goal and put Wales back into the lead. The earlier swirling wind was replaced by rain, and then hail, as the heavens opened and Northern Ireland launched a continuous assault on the Welsh goal, John Hartson managed to get the ball in the back of the net, despite it being declared off side, in some way atoning for his earlier penalty miss, as Wales hit on the break away, an extra four minutes of injury time were not enough for Lawrie Sanchez's team to pull a goal back, leaving Wales the victors in this truly enjoyable and entertaining match. Wales and Northern Ireland, so often the nearly teams from the UK, proved beyond doubt that there is a future for both teams in the International arena, next up for both managers is qualification for the 2008 European Championships, and on this showing, both sets of supporters will be looking to the future with confidence.
Northern Ireland: Taylor, Duff, Murdock, Craigan, Capaldi, Gillespie, Johnson, Davis, Elliott, Quinn, Healy. Subs: Ingham, Sproule, Smith, McAuley, Jones, Brunt, Feeney.

Goals: Gillespie 46, Davis 49

Wales: Jones, Delaney, James Collins (Duffy 52), Partridge, Ricketts, Davies, Fletcher, Robinson, Giggs, Earnshaw, Hartson. Subs: Brown, Duffy, Vaughan, Williams, Cotterill, Crofts, Danny Collins.

Goals: Davies 27, Robinson 38, Giggs 61

Att: 14,000

Referee: Ruud Bossen (Holland)

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