Sanchez wants to finish on top

Lawrie Sanchez revealed his own personal goal as Northern Ireland carved out one of the greatest results in their history.

The former Wycombe boss is determined to mix it one day with the Barclays Premiership elite.

Certainly his star is in its ascendancy after David Healy’s 74th-minute winner stunned England and sent shockwaves throughout world football.

Sanchez said: “I am the manager of a team that has beaten a side 100 places above it in the rankings. I would like to think that my career is upwards from here.

“But I am in no great rush to get to the top and burn myself out.

“As a player, I spent seven years in the lower divisions and then spent the last 10 years of my career at the top level.

“I would like to spend the last 10 years of my managerial career at the top level as well.”

Sanchez saluted his unsung side after they had claimed the three points in this World Cup qualifier. The last time Northern Ireland beat their opponents in Belfast was in 1927.

Now they have a chance of finishing third in the qualifying group as Austria - their opponents in the final game – could only draw with Azerbaijan.

Sanchez said: “We had a game plan set out for the players and they have now achieved immortality in Northern Ireland folklore.

“You will be talking about this group of players for years to come.

“It shows the power of belief and what can be achieved if you do believe.

“You live for these moments and savour them. It is great for this group.

“England knew at half-time they were in for a real game. I thought we could have nicked a second goal when Warren Feeney had a great chance late on.”

One banner in the Kop stand summed up the mood among the home fans: ‘Keep Believing’.

They could hardly believe what they were seeing in the second half though after David Beckham had rattled the angle of post and bar with a free-kick.

Healy picked out Steven Davis after 55 minutes but Paul Robinson got out quickly to smother the ball.

Then James Quinn went wide with a volley and Robinson followed that by saving at the foot of the Peterborough striker.

Windsor Park erupted when Healy opened the scoring, blasting a shot into the corner after being released by Davis.

It was the Leeds striker’s 19th goal for the province and it could hardly have been better timed.

Sanchez said: “When push comes to shove you are looking for someone to finish and one man in our team had that quality.

“If David was to play in the Premiership he would be a regular goalscorer in my view.

“David’s record for us is phenomenal. Not only has he scored against England he also found the target against Germany.

“He is a finisher and when you consider we went 1298 minutes without getting a goal his goals have come thick and fast.”

England won 4-0 at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign and Healy added: “People expected them to beat us by three or four goals. But at half-time we said we were not to throw it away again.”

Sheffield United winger Keith Gillespie believes England were “rattled” this time around.

“I think we have to give ourselves a lot of credit,” Gillespie told Sky Sports News.

“We managed to get them rattled a bit. The manager said chances would come and fortunately David put it away.

“I think we all believed. We showed in the first half at Old Trafford that we could compete – we knew we had to sustain it.

“You have got to give us the plaudits. England have fantastic players but we didn’t let them play.”