Football: Dowie aiming for record goal

IAIN DOWIE has an extra incentive to find the back of the net in Moldova today. If he scores, the Queen's Park Rangers striker will equal Colin Clarke's Northern Ireland record of 13 goals.

Dowie took his tally to 12, level with four others, when he scored against Moldova at Windsor Park in November's 2-2 draw. "It would mean a lot to me to equal the record because I love playing for Northern Ireland," the 34-year-old said. "But I would swap it for a place in the European Championship finals."

Keith Gillespie should start, even though he is not fully fit, and Michael Hughes will play his penultimate match before a hernia operation. Danny Sonner may make his first start in midfield, with Keith Rowland moving to left-back.

The Moldovans have selection problems, with the defenders Ivan Tabanov and Oleg Shiskin suspended, while Ion Tistemitanu is injured.

NORTHERN IRELAND (Probable): Taylor (Fulham); Rowland (Queen's Park Rangers), Patterson (Dundee Utd), Morrow (Arsenal), Williams (Chesterfield), Sonner (Sheffield Wednesday), Lennon (Leicester), Lomas (West Ham), Gillespie (Blackburn), M Hughes (Wimbledon), Dowie (Queen's Park Rangers).

GROUP THREE

P W D L F A Pts

Germany 3 2 0 1 6 2 6

Finland 3 2 0 1 6 4 6

Turkey 3 2 0 1 5 3 6

N Ireland 4 1 1 2 3 8 4

Moldova 3 0 1 2 5 8 1

Fixtures: Today: Germany v Finland; Moldova v Northern Ireland. 4 June: Germany v Moldova. 5 June: Finland v Turkey. 9 June: Moldova v Finland. 4 Sept: Finland v Germany; Northern Ireland v Turkey. 8 Sept: Germany v Northern Ireland; Moldova v Turkey. 9 Oct: Germany v Turkey; Finland v Northern Ireland.