Northern Ireland were badly hit by the pre-match news that their two best players, Best and Dougan, would be missing from their line-up for this international at Wembley. It was to prove a major blow to them, as with the extra firepower of those two players, the crowd might just have witnessed a real shock.

In the first half, the Irish took nearly all the honours. Campbell was a lively winger, Nicholson a battling midfield star and above all Clements, playing a withdrawn midfield role, controlled the Irish attacks with a cool authority. Several times they came perilously close to taking the lead. A bad mistake by Bobby Moore let in Irvine, who fired into the side-netting of Gordon Banks's goal when really he ought to have done better.

Another chance then fell to Irvine after a miscued back-pass by Bobby Charlton. Only Banks's alert dive kept out Irvine's cross-shot before Charlton redeemed himself with a goal-line clearance. Almost immediately, Parke crossed from the right and as Banks and Irvine jumped together the goalkeeper dropped the ball where this time David Sadler emerged to clear from the line.

Somehow England hung on with their players seemingly all at 'sixes and sevens'. Charlton worked hard but without penetration, and Peter Thompson promised much without fulfilling the expectation. He had so much talent and was so close to being an outstanding player and yet he still left a niggling doubt about his game.

Ironically, with the Irish virtually dominating the half, it was England who went in at the break with a 1-0 lead. The goal came in the 44th minute and was beautifully taken. A short corner by Charlton to Alan Mullery was squared into the middle for Geoff Hurst to meet it with a ferocious volley which whistled past Jennings. So, poor Northern Ireland, after all their fine work, found themselves a goal down. It must have been a bitter psychological blow.

Predictably perhaps, the second-half performance from the Irish never quite matched the first, although all the players continued to 'play their hearts out'. But England gradually allowed their extra experience to calm the situation with Banks, Mullery, Ray Wilson and debutant Sadler particularly impressive.

All through the second 45 minutes, the extra class was used to knock the fight out of the Irish and on 65 minutes the result was settled beyond doubt by a second England goal.

It was a brilliantly-executed goal as a speedy move between Hurst, Mullery and Roger Hunt ended with a rising shot from the latter. The ball was blocked but a clever back-heel by Martin Peters gave Charlton an easy chance which he duly accepted.

It must have been very disappointing for the brave Irish lads in their emerald-green, as they never again threatened Banks's goal. But they can be proud of their performance and in the end can take consolation from the fact that in this game the breaks went England's way. Everything was now set for the final group showdown at Hampden Park in February against the Scots.
  

Versatile David Sadler made his debut at centre-half against a Northern Ireland team missing their two key forwards George Best and Derek Dougan. Goals from Geoff Hurst and Bobby Charlton clinched victory in an undistinguished match that fell flat the moment it was announced just before the kick-off that both Best and Dougan had failed fitness tests. All attention was now switched to the final Home Championship match against Scotland that would decide which of them would represent Great Britain in the European Nations Cup quarter finals.
  

Although England had lost to Scotland, they had regained the leadership of Group Eight the previous month by beating Wales 3-0 at Ninian Park as Scotland went down 1-0 to Northern Ireland at Windsor Park. The Irish, after two successive defeats at Wembley, had rekindled their own interest but needed to win to have any chance of qualifying.
Victory for either side would give them at least a share of the British Championship.
Northern Ireland gave a good account of themselves but fell behind a minute before half-time. From Charlton's corner and Mullery's pass, Geoff Hurst volleyed past Jennings for the opener. Then Peters's clever back-heel enabled Bobby Charlton to knock Northern Ireland out of the European Championship.
England's 1-1 draw with Scotland at Hampden Park regained the British Championship for them and also ensured their qualification for the European Championship quarter-finals where they met Spain, the reigning champions.
     

Source Notes

TheFA.com
UEFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG