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FORMER POSTMAN DELIVERS GOODS
IT was a former postman who delivered last night as Michael O’Neill’s men set an unbeaten record of 10 games, eclipsing the nine-match runs reached twice by Billy Bingham’s teams in the 1980s.
Con or Washington was working as a postie and playing non-League football for St Ives Town when the last European Championships took place in 2012.
But the Queens Park Rangers striker did his chances of making Northern Ireland’s squad for Euro 2016 no harm by scoring on his first appearance at Windsor Park as he put Scotland’s World Cup qualifying opponents to the sword.
Although the 23-year-old striker was born in England to a Scottish mother, he qualifies for his adopted country through his grandmother.
And Washington justified O’Neill’s faith in calling him up by following up a promising first cap against Wales last week with an even better home debut.
He showed power and determination to leave two Slovenia defenders flat on their backs just before halftime, then turned inside a third and drilled the ball past goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
‘For me, it’s unbelievable,’ said Washington. ‘It’s been a bit of a fairytale four years but particularly the last four months. For my goal, the keeper was going one way, so I stuck it in the far corner.
‘We’ve also got the 10-game unbeaten record and that is brilliant.’
‘Conor is a raw striker but he’s come on the international stage and shown what he can do,’ said O’Neill, who gave late substitute appearances to Aberdeen’s Niall McGinn and Kilmarnock’s Josh Magennis.
‘ He made a goal out of nothing and it’s a great night for him. He’s strong enough to fight against centre-backs and is particularly good in those inside channels.
‘It would be unfair to say if he’s on the flight to France. He’s done himself no harm at all, not only in the performance but how he’s fitted in with the group. It looks like he’s going to be an asset to us.’
On the record of going 10 games unbeaten, O’Neill said: ‘It’s lovely to achieve something like that.’
But the manager will be more interested in the future than the past, and Washington gives him options as an attacking partner — or alternative — to talisman Kyle Lafferty.
Slovenia had a great chance to equalise midway through the second half when Jonny Evans was penalised at a corner, but Roy Carroll kept out substitute Milivoje Novakovic’s spot-kick.
‘ I’ve been watching their penalties the last two days,’ said Carroll. ‘I guessed the right way. He went that way in the videos.’
O’Neill’s side have two more build-up games — at home to Belarus and away to Slovakia — before they head to France where they will face Germany, Poland and Ukraine in Group C. NORTHERN IRELAND (3-1-4-2): Carroll; Cathcart, McAuley (Hughes 46), Evans 6; McNair (McGinn 79); Smith (McLaughlin 71), Davis 7, Norwood, Ferguson (Dallas 60); Washington (Magennis 70), Ward (K Lafferty 60). Subs not used: Hodson, D Lafferty, McKay, Paton, McCullough, McGovern.