THE proverbial 'Luck of the Irish' had nearly always been missing when these teams met in Belfast and this day saw no exception. In fact, it was England who enjoyed the lion's share of any luck that was going and although they deserved to win, the margin of victory was a little flattering.

It was England who took the lead after a quarter of an hour. Johnny Haynes flicked a short free-kick to Bobby Smith and the big centre-forward thundered a 20-yard shot into the top corner of Gregg's net. Smith was full of powerful running and he constantly gave the Irish defence much to think about. He continually pulled Forde, Elder and Keith out of position which created openings for his colleagues.

However the Irish were soon back on level terms as the pace hotted up. Dougan's overhead flick was met by McAdams, who hit home a fine goal. Almost immediately the Northern Ireland side went close to taking the lead. It seemed certain that Bingham's shot would go in, but it hit McParland who was standing almost on the goal-line. That was typical of the bad luck that Ireland had, but worse was to come.

Nearly 60,000 people had crammed into this famous ground and they were watching an excellent game. Before half-time, though, they were to be very disappointed as England regained the lead. This time Haynes put in a cross from the right and Jimmy Greaves hit the ball past Gregg from 18 yards for another well-struck goal.

Overall, England deserved their half-time lead, their plan to have Ron Flowers alongside Peter Swan was working well with the twin aerial threat of Dougan and McAdams. Although Swan struggled at times, Flowers was always there to mop up any problems. Haynes, Greaves, and especially Bobby Charlton were all in tip-top form and Charlton was a particular delight with his long, raking passes stretching the Irish to the limits.

Blanchflower's usual skilful contribution in midfield was somewhat stifled by the Irish tactic of pumping high balls to the big men up front, so with Bobby Robson supporting Haynes superbly, England had the edge in midfield.

Immediately after the interval, England scored again. The alert and dangerous Bryan Douglas centred from the right and goalkeeper Gregg came a long way out of his goal in trying to palm the ball clear. Greaves, once again the man for the situation, punished the mistake with a clever looping header which dropped just under the crossbar.

It seemed all over bar the shouting but back came the battling Irish. McIlroy crossed and there was McAdams, again, to thump home a powerful header. The crowd were at fever pitch now but alas for them, the leprechauns refused to help their green-shirted countrymen at this stage. Dougan and McParland both struck the goalposts with good efforts and England could count themselves very lucky that they held on to their lead. Just as it seemed that the Irish must equalise they suddenly faded, allowing England the chance to reassert themselves.

Towards the end, they gained complete control again and promptly added two more goals to their tally. First, a fine move involving Charlton, Greaves and Haynes let in Douglas for the fourth goal; then, just before the final whistle, the same quartet combined again with this time Charlton the man in at the kill. Those perfectly-executed goals finally ended the brave Irish challenge.
 

This victory over a strong Northern Ireland team marked the start of one of the most impressive sequences of results in England football history. Bobby Smith scored with his second kick in international football after Johnny Haynes had rolled a short free-kick into his path. Bobby Robson and Haynes, soon to be Fulham clubmates, were impressive midfield partners in a 4-2-4 formation, and the front four men - Douglas, Greaves, Smith and Bobby Charlton - looked as potent a force as England had fielded for ten years. Middlesbrough's powerfully built Mick McNeil replaced injured Ray Wilson at left-back, and looked comfortable in an England jersey. Two late England goals produced a final scoreline that was unkind to an Irish team in which Danny Blanchflower and Jimmy McIlroy were outstanding. The twinning of Greaves and Smith was a sign of great things to come for both England and Tottenham.
  

IN spite of losing the two close season matches in Spain and Hungary, England only made three changes, one enforced through injury, in the the team which met Ireland at Belfast in October. Al left-back Wilson was injured, giving McNeil the opportunity to win his first full cap; in the forward line, Greaves and Smith were preferred to Baker and Viollet. The margin of England's victory was flattering and the Irish were unlucky in that they hit the post and crossbar on three occasions. Smith gave England the lead with a powerful shot in the sixteenth minute, a goal which was equalised by McAdams before halftime following a fast centre from Bingham. On the stroke of halftime Greaves put England in front and Charlton added to the score immediately after the interval with a header. Ireland again reduced the lead through McAdams but England were now well on top and scored further goals through Greaves and Douglas.