Football: Cynical Spain preserve point

Northern Ireland. .0

Spain. . . . . . . 0

A PIECE of cynical football robbed Northern Ireland of a possible World Cup victory at Windsor Park in Belfast last night. With seven minutes to go, winger Michael Hughes burst through the middle and looked to be clean through on goal when the defender, Toni, pulled him to the ground.

Toni was shown the red card, but the dismissal came too late for Northern Ireland to capitalise, though the draw at least keeps their World Cup aspirations alive. Billy Bingham's side are now a point behind the Republic of Ireland in Group Three.

For much of the match it was a rearguard action against the technically superior Spaniards, but the visitors, who were held to a goalless draw by Latvia three weeks ago, failed to find any penetration when it mattered.

Admittedly it took luck and two brilliant saves from the Newcastle goalkeeper, Tommy Wright, to protect Northern Ireland's clean sheet, all inside a minute just after the interval as the Spaniards threatened to take control.

First, Wright parried a drive from Hierro, of Real Madrid. Guillermo Amor then hit the crossbar before Michel tried a chipped from just inside the area, Wright arching backwards to touch the ball over.

NORTHERN IRELAND: Wright (Newcastle United); Fleming (Barnsley), Worthington (Sheffield Wednesday), Taggart (Barnsley), McDonald (Queen's Park Rangers), Donaghy (Chelsea), Black (Nottingham Forest), Wilson (Notts County), Clarke (Portsmouth), Quinn (Reading), Hughes (Strasbourg).

SPAIN: Zubizarreta; Ferrer (both Barcelona), Toni, Solozabal, Lopez (all Atletico Madrid), Hierro (Real Madrid), Amor (Barcelona), Michel (Real Madrid), Barragan (Deportivo La Coruna), Martin Vazquez (Real Madrid), Manolo (Atletico Madrid).

Referee: K Krug (Germany).