National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10305 (Terracing: 7729, Seating: 2370, VIP seats: 206) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Pat Hughes got the match started through his kick off. After 3 played minutes U21 Cyprus got a freekick which was hit by Lykaon Panayiotopoulos. After a rather tough play, U21 Northern Ireland's Kelvin Edgson got a free kick in the 7th minute. Kelvin Edgson kicked well hit freekick during the 12th minute of the match. 14 minutes into the game, Christian Budden cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Salmakis Tassioglou was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Salmakis Tassioglou showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Pat Hughes in the 17th minute of the match. Charlie Bilton took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Charis Kiriakopoulos, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. If Pat Hughes had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 22nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. An unexpectedly hard shot by Pat Hughes in the 24th minute of play forced U21 Cyprus's goalkeeper Salmakis Tassioglou to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 25th minute, Hyllos Kutras hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Charis Kiriakopoulos in the 31st managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Charlie Bilton saved U21 Northern Ireland from getting behind. Pat Hughes scored 0-3 in the 32nd match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Salmakis Tassioglou, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. After 36 minutes of play, U21 Northern Ireland's Pat Hughes made it 0-4 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Salmakis Tassioglou was left in no man's land by his defense there! Kelvin Edgson kicked well hit freekick during the 39th minute of the match. After having played for 42 minutes, Simon Dickens managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. U21 Northern Ireland's supporters crossed their fingers, but Simon Dickens was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. A collision led to U21 Cyprus getting a freekick after 46 minutes play. Polybos Kreskas hit a great ball.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Charis Kiriakopoulos made a kick off. Pat Hughes might have been able to make a better finish in the 52nd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Salmakis Tassioglou. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Pat Hughes ran back to his position shaking his head. Through an outstanding action, after 55 minutes, Salmakis Tassioglou successfully got his hands on the ball before it slid into the goal at the right post. In the 59th minute Charis Kiriakopoulos shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Charlie Bilton saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 60 minutes into the game, Dioskouroi Batsakis cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 1-4. Charlie Bilton was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. 72 minutes into the match, U21 Northern Ireland's goal looked a bit too open when Dioskouroi Batsakis came free, but Charlie Bilton reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. If Pat Hughes had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 73rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After some careless play in the U21 Cyprus defense, Pat Hughes kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Salmakis Tassioglou. The U21 Cyprus fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Salmakis Tassioglou should have stopped the shot. Hyllos Kutras hit a great freekick 79 minutes into the match. Pat Hughes received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 80th minute. Salmakis Tassioglou tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 84th minute Charis Kiriakopoulos shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Charlie Bilton saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Charlie Bilton showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Dioskouroi Batsakis, who was totally free with the ball in the 86th minute. Pat Hughes sent away a hard shot on goal in the 90th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Charlie Bilton made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Dioskouroi Batsakis in the 93rd minute of play. In the 94th minute, Charis Kiriakopoulos made a precise shot to the right of Charlie Bilton . U21 Northern Ireland's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 2-5. U21 Northern Ireland's fans were overjoyed with their teams well-earned victory and stayed in the stadium long after the final whistle to celebrate the win.