Northern Ireland win to surpass Billy Bingham’s boys

Northern Ireland 1 Slovenia 0: Northern Ireland eclipsed Billy Bingham’s team of the mid 1980s by stretching their unbeaten run into double figures, as they beat Slovenia 1-0 in their friendly in Belfast last night.

Michael O’Neill’s class of 2016 eclipsed the nine-match streak Billy Bingham’s team managed when they reached the 1986 World Cup and it was Kent-born Washington, who had only been to the country once before, that was the match-winner with a first-half goal.

Goalkeeper Roy Carroll, 38, then saved a second-half penalty from Milivoje Novakovic as the Northern Irish bandwagon carried on rolling ahead of their participation in Euro 2016 this summer.