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. Heriberto Chinchilla stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Pat Hughes's shot from short distance in the 3rd minute. Charlie Bilton made an important save on a dangerous shot by Reynaldo Sandi in the 4th minute. U21 Northern Ireland's Charlie Bilton proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 5th minute of the match, managed to save U21 Northern Ireland from getting a goal against them. When Paul Duarte fell near the penalty area in the 6th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored U21 Costa Rica's protests and gave Paul Duarte a yellow card for diving instead. A collision led to U21 Costa Rica getting a freekick after 6 minutes play. Paul Duarte hit a great ball. The audience was convinced that Pat Hughes's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Heriberto Chinchilla was relentless in the 9th minute of the game. If Simon Dickens had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 15th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Heriberto Chinchilla made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Pat Hughes in the 18th minute of play. In the 23rd minute, Pat Hughes ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Heriberto Chinchilla was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-2. Simon Dickens scored 0-3 in the 27th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Heriberto Chinchilla, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Charlie Bilton made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Stanley Robles in the 30th minute of play. The supporters of U21 Northern Ireland booed when U21 Costa Rica was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 31 match minutes in a wonderful position. Javier Tenorio didn't get a good kick on the ball. Pat Hughes sent away a hard shot on goal in the 32nd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 41st minute the ball was on its way in behind U21 Costa Rica's goalkeeper Heriberto Chinchilla, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. After 43 played minutes U21 Costa Rica got a freekick which was hit by Paul Duarte. Charlie Bilton made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Stanley Robles in the 46th minute of play. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-3.

54 minutes into the match, Pat Hughes dribbled the ball past the defender and swiftly kicked the ball to the left of Heriberto Chinchilla, 0-4. When Eladio Naranjo fell near the penalty area in the 62nd minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored U21 Costa Rica's protests and gave Eladio Naranjo a yellow card for diving instead. The supporters of U21 Northern Ireland booed when U21 Costa Rica was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 62 match minutes in a wonderful position. Eladio Naranjo didn't get a good kick on the ball. U21 Northern Ireland's Charlie Bilton played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Eladio Naranjo in the 63rd minute of play. After a defensive mix-up in U21 Costa Rica's zone, Pat Hughes stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Heriberto Chinchilla came out of the goal and Pat Hughes tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. U21 Costa Rica's Heriberto Chinchilla proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 68th minute of the match, managed to save U21 Costa Rica from getting a goal against them. 69 minutes had been played when some careless play by U21 Costa Rica's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Jordan Talbot was slow to take the kick. During this time U21 Northern Ireland's players had a chance to rest. A well-hit corner resulted in Christian Budden heading the ball towards the goal, but to his dismay he misdirected it and missed the goal completely. Stanley Robles's late challenge caught a U21 Northern Ireland's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Stanley Robles helped the player get up and apologised. Reynaldo Sandi hit a great freekick 75 minutes into the match. 84 minutes in the game, Pat Hughes fired away an excellent shot, which passed to the side of the right post without Heriberto Chinchilla having to interfere. In the 85th minute, Paul Duarte hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Stanley Robles in the 87th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Charlie Bilton prevented the ball from getting in the gole. 96 minutes into the match, U21 Northern Ireland's goal looked a bit too open when Eladio Naranjo came free, but Charlie Bilton reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When the final whistle sounded U21 Northern Ireland left the ground with the victory after a much better performance than U21 Costa Rica.