Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ANOTHER DAVID & GOLIATH..
England Northern Ireland
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LAUREN WADE says Northern Ireland’s women should relish the prospect of emulating David Healy’s goal scoring heroics against England in 2005.
“Another 1-0 win would be just perfect,” smiled the former Glasgow City winger ahead of today’s friendly with the Lionesses at St George’s Park.
Wade, granddaughter of former Coleraine chairman Hugh Wade, was at Windsor as a fan when Healy wrote his name in football folklore with a rifled winner in front of the Kop.
“I remember it as if it was yesterday,” she said of the former striker’s shock winner against the English in a World Cup qualifier almost 16 years ago.
“I was sitting roughly where the director’s box was because my grandfather Hugh Wade was part of the Irish FA at that time.
“When David scored and the ball hit the back of the net, as they say.. ‘absolute scenes’. I’ll never forget it.
“It would be a dream to score like David, but I haven’t really thought about it on a personal level. It would just be fantastic if the women could beat England as well.”
Northern Ireland are using today’s friendly as a warm-up for the Euro playoffs in April, with the draw for the six team shootout scheduled for March 5.
And while the Lionesses haven’t played in 11 months due to Covid, Wade, who is a free agent after leaving Glasgow in December, is bracing herself for a challenging afternoon.
“We’re under no illusions, but this is why we play football,” she said. “We want to challenge ourselves against top level teams and this is a massive test.
“Hopefully we can produce a big performance and it’s a chance to showcase what we’ve got. You never know what can happen and hopefully we can raise a few eyebrows.”
Kenny Shiels, at the helm of the women’s team since 2019, accepts today’s date with England is one of the biggest challenges he has faced as a manager.
The former Kilmarnock boss said: “I remember beating Celtic (in the League Cup final in 2012) and that was a big result, but this is a mammoth task.
“They have nine players from Manchester City and we have nine who play for Glentoran, so there’s a little bit of a difference there.” 12.30pm
The hitman delivered a wonderful last-gasp winner from an acute angle to ensure a glory night for his team
THE Scottish Football Association has apologised after assistant referee Graeme Stewart officiated Saturday’s game between Hibernian and Hamilton when he was supposed to be selfisolating.
Stewart, along with David Roome and Bobby Madden (left), were part of the team that took charge of a Greek Super League game between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos in Athens last weekend.
Roome tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday after returning from Greece and although Stewart and Madden returned two negative tests, they were considered to be close contacts.
Madden was due to take charge of Sunday’s game between Ross County and Celtic but was replaced.