SCOTLAND and Northern Ireland last night reminded everyone why meetings between the countries should be kept to a minimum, although there was an undeniably enjoyable edge often lacking from such grandly titled "international challenge matches".
It might be stretching it a bit to say this was an eagerly awaited fixture, but there was a degree of anticipation in the air. Indeed, there was a case to be made for this being described as a slightly more low-rent clash of Auld Enemies. The Union f
lag fluttered in the away end at Hampden during a Scotland game for the first time since England last visited, back in 1999. God Save The Queen also got a rare Hampden airing.
Rule Britannia has been heard slightly more regularly, though normally when the Rangers End is exactly that, which most recently was the case at the Scottish Cup final. The ditty was given another airing last night, and it seemed a point was being made. A presumably sarcastic banner name-checked the Rangers chairman. "Thank you Sir David – our culture is not a crime," it said. Even friendly meetings can be complicated affairs. No wonder the powers-that-be in both countries have been content to look further afield for opponents. Last night also brought another vivid reminder why Scotland and Northern Ireland have resisted playing each other in recent times. They are simply too similar, and thus are of limited learning value to each other.
The crowd of just over 28,000, while half of the Hampden capacity, was still more than the 13,000 who watched the last game between these sides a full 16 years ago. That game itself – which Scotland won thanks to an Ally McCoist winner – proved an isolated one. Prior to it, the most recent clash had been during the final Home International Championship group matches in 1983, and which Northern Ireland won 2-0. Indeed, the memory of that gilded campaign helped sustain the Northern Irish fans during those not-so-distant days when they fell to 124 in the Fifa rankings. Northern Ireland topped the final group, and thus are the official reigning British champions.
It is perhaps understandable if Northern Irish supporters reserve some contempt for Scotland, since the Scots colluded with England when delivering the last rites to the competition. Some of this lingering distaste was evident last night. "You're just a small part of England," sang their impressively vocal fans. There later came the perhaps more wounding "Are you England in disguise?" as Scotland struggled to break down their doughty opponents. "Are you Rangers in disguise?" was the predictable response from the Tartan Army.
Away from such tribal point-scoring the game itself proved no advert for the forthcoming Celtic Cup extravaganza, pencilled-in to start in 2010. Perhaps a certain cageyness was expected. Although the names and faces are familiar, the context was not. In the last quarter of a century Scotland have played more international football against the likes of Iceland and Lithuania than Northern Ireland. Even San Marino have been faced four times during this period, while the Faroe Isles have earned the right to be billed as the Real Auld Enemy, with Scotland having lined up against them on eight occasions since 1995.
This, then, was relatively virgin territory. Indeed, some of those on the pitch – David Weir and Stephen Craigan not among them – were not born when Scotland last faced Northern Ireland in a competitive match. It was the novelty factor which perhaps persuaded so many away fans to make the journey across the Irish sea on a Wednesday evening in August. Either that, or they were hoping to escape a deluge. If the latter reason was a prime motivation for their voyage then disappointment lay in store, since Scotland has been as rain-lashed. But by the time Ronnie Brown, who turned 71 yesterday, had done his Flower of Scotland turn, the skies had cleared.
The request to respect the anthem of Northern Ireland was not universally heeded, but there was not the wall of booing some feared. In truth, there was simply not the weight of numbers required to summon up a sustained volume of noise, although Ryan McGivern's red card helped ignite an atmosphere hitherto provided almost solely by the away fans, as did Scotland sub goalkeeper Allan McGregor's later penalty save from David Healy.
The full article contains 748 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
