When opposites attract

THAT infamous night in November, when Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland collided in a crucial World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park in 1993, stands out in the minds of many of us who were there as one of the most tension-filled and downright hostile sporting events we have ever attended.

Thankfully, a combination of massive security and a low-profile southern presence, ensured that a lid was kept on any potential violence. But the incendiary and even poisonous atmosphere surrounding the game shook many of those present, not least some of the Republic’s Anglo-Irish players who, hitherto distanced from the brute realities of the North’s sectarian divide, afterwards spoke with evident shock about the unprecedented levels of personal abuse they had taken from the crowd.

But when the dust had finally settled — and the Republic had succeeded in securing passage to the finals in America — it fell to Packie Bonner to supply a little perspective.