Andy Williams reflects on Northern Ireland win
Tuesday 27 March 2012By ESFA Office
Last Updated:
10/02/2021 11:49:16
Andy Williams
esfa.co.uk once again caught up with England Under 18 Schools’ Team Manager, Andy Williams, to gain his thoughts on the recent 4-0 win at Windsor Park, to kick-start the Centenary Shield campaign. Here is what he had to say:
“Managers and the media often talk about getting the "rub of the green" when trying to explain away a loss. The real truth behind that is, if you work hard enough often enough, you will make opportunity count for you. This group of young players work so hard for each other they deserved their win and this moment of glory. Scoring so early helped settle any nerves we may have had going into the game and that gave us the confidence to play our football. We knew that it was going to be an extreme test so to be 2-0 after a quarter was a dream really and it put us in control. However, to Ireland's credit they worked hard and kept pushing us back; we had to be on our defensive game tonight and we were. We knew they would change (shape and tactics) at some stage opening the game up. We hoped that would give us chances to put the game to bed, and that's exactly what happened. I am sure some spectators that watched the game may think that it was not a 4-0 game, others may be thinking that England could have won 8-2. Sometimes opportunity knocks - that's football!
It is very pleasing to get those three points on the board. The manner of the win and the goals we scored is a boost going into the live Sky TV game against Scotland (at Newcastle United FC) in two weeks time. That will bea great opportunity for us all and we hope lots of people will come out and support the team.”
