National Team Friendly

National stadium
Spectators: 10312 (Terracing: 7734, Seating: 2372, VIP seats: 206) Vance Crossman started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. Damian Ellerton made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Allan Fitzgerald in the 7th minute of play. Damian Ellerton took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Robert Beerman, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Northern Ireland's Damian Ellerton played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Rory Rusk in the 18th minute of play. After having played for 19 minutes, Robert Beerman managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. England's supporters crossed their fingers, but Robert Beerman was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Allan Fitzgerald in the 23rd minute of play forced Northern Ireland's goalkeeper Damian Ellerton to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Damian Ellerton took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Robert Beerman, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Damian Ellerton took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Rory Rusk, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. England's Robert Beerman got a good chance for a goal in the 33rd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. 34 minutes into the game, Verne Wakefield threw the ball into play from the sideline. Northern Ireland's Marc Adamson quickly snatched the ball and retained possesion. Damian Ellerton showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Rory Rusk in the 37th minute of the match. Damian Ellerton showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Rory Rusk, who was totally free with the ball in the 38th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Allan Fitzgerald in the 39th minute of play forced Northern Ireland's goalkeeper Damian Ellerton to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. England's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Allan Fitzgerald in the 40th minute. A well-hit corner resulted in Reggie Coleman heading the ball towards the goal, but to his dismay he misdirected it and missed the goal completely. An unexpectedly hard shot by Reggie Coleman in the 41st minute of play forced Northern Ireland's goalkeeper Damian Ellerton to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 42ndth minute of the game Robert Beerman who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Northern Ireland's Damian Ellerton was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. 44 minutes had been played when some careless play by Northern Ireland's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Allan Fitzgerald was slow to take the kick. During this time England's players had a chance to rest. The corner went over the outstretched arms of Northern Ireland's goalie and right to Reggie Coleman. He fired away a shot at goal, but the shot had too much spin, and it went just outside the goal. Northern Ireland's manager breathed a sigh of relief on the sidelines as his team had managed to escape an almost certain goal. After some careless play in the Northern Ireland defense, Rory Rusk kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Damian Ellerton. The Northern Ireland fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Damian Ellerton should have stopped the shot. The Northern Ireland players were disheartened as they walked off the pitch after the first half. England were winning 0-1.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Rory Rusk was the one to do the kick off. 53 minutes into the match, Rory Rusk notched a goal, 0-2, to the right of Northern Ireland's Damian Ellerton. Damian Ellerton was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. 57 minutes into the match, Northern Ireland's goalkeeper Damian Ellerton had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Rory Rusk. Rory Rusk recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 61st minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. In the 69th minute of the match, Rory Rusk tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Damian Ellerton saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line. In the 69th minute Rory Rusk shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Damian Ellerton saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 72 minutes into the game, England's Rory Rusk nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Damian Ellerton made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-4. England made a substitution. William Sutton replaced Robert Beerman. England's Alf Picker was substituted for Nicky MacDonald. Northern Ireland made a substitution. Hamilton Tanner replaced Mick Waite. Rory Rusk could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 76th minute of the match, but Damian Ellerton made a huge save. Stan Middlewood kicked well hit freekick during the 78th minute of the match. Damian Ellerton made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Rory Rusk in the 81st minute of play. Northern Ireland's Damian Ellerton proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 83rd minute of the match, managed to save Northern Ireland from getting a goal against them. In the 87th minute, Allan Fitzgerald ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Damian Ellerton was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-5. Damian Ellerton showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Rory Rusk in the 90th minute of the match. With a little luck, Northern Ireland's Damian Ellerton got control of the ball when Allan Fitzgerald tried to sneak it across the goal line. Vance Crossman's late challenge caught a England's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Vance Crossman helped the player get up and apologised. In the 92nd minute, Vance Crossman hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. William Sutton fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 93rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Damian Ellerton having to interfere. Allan Fitzgerald struck a weak shot in the 96th minute. Damian Ellerton didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for England. When the final whistle sounded England left the ground with the victory after a much better performance than Northern Ireland.