After England had done so well on their summer tour, the match in Northern Ireland seemed to be only a formality for their experienced players. But, if that was what they were thinking, they were in for a rude awakening.

Indeed, Ireland came so desperately close to pulling off a famous victory and only a very late goal saved England.

There had been no hint of the impending drama when the record crowd of 60,000 saw England snatch the lead after only ninety seconds. Billy Wright split the Irish defence with a superb long through ball which found Nat Lofthouse, the current 'Golden Boy' of English football. He hit a firm shot wide of the advancing Uprichard to open the scoring.

It set the match up for its seemingly inevitable defeat for the Irish. After all, they had not beaten England since 1927 and results between the countries had taken on a somewhat monotonous similarity.

But this day was somehow different. Soon the powerful Blanchflower and McCourt began to impose their superiority on to the likes of Jackie Sewell and Eddie Baily and suddenly England found the going somewhat tricky.

Bingham and Tully were giving the England full-backs a torrid time with their speed and trickery and it was no more than Ireland deserved when they gained an equaliser on 15 minutes.

Tully, whose footwork kept causing England problems, forced a corner on the left. He took the kick and it curled wickedly in towards Alf Ramsey, who was stood at the near post. The Spurs full back ducked under the ball, fully expecting Gil Merrick to gather safely. Unfortunately, by the time the goalkeeper reacted, the ball was in the net. It was Ireland's first goal for 18 months and, although bizarre, it was none the less very welcome.

Three nasty injuries added to the list of incidents gradually building up. First Uprichard was injured following a collision with Billy Elliott but he bravely carried on after treatment. Then a nasty clash of heads between McMorran and Jimmy Dickinson ended with both players going off for stitches.

Dickinson was back ten minutes afterwards but McMorran was off until well into the second half. But Ireland were undaunted and a minute after half-time they took the lead amidst unparalleled excitement.

A free-kick by McMichael was flicked on by Blanchflower's head straight to Tully, again, who made no mistake shooting past the partially unsighted Merrick. The crowd sensed that a victory was really possible. McMorran bravely came back on, typifying the Irish spirit and he very nearly wrapped the game up, only to be foiled by a fine save from Merrick.

To England's credit they refused to go completely under and, with Wright and Dickinson once again worked tirelessly, they clawed their way back as the game reached its climax. Sewell, Lofthouse and Elliott all went close before, with only three minutes left, they found an equaliser.

Jack decided to push his weight forward to help his attack. His pass found Tom Finney, a flick on to Wright and back to Froggatt. The Portsmouth player powerfully beat McCourt before putting over a perfect centre which Elliott headed home firmly.

The drama had been incredible and although the match was never a classic, it certainly had plenty of incident.
 

Nat Lofthouse scored in the first minute and Billy Elliott in the last minute of a dramatic match. Sandwiched in between was the magic of Celtic ball artist Charlie Tully, who scored twice for Ireland. He beat Merrick from 25 yards and then with his specialist inswinging corner-kick after the Irish team had been reduced by injury to ten men (In a game for Celtic against Falkirk Tully netted direct from a corner and was ordered to re-take it because the referee was not ready. He immediately repeated the trick and put the ball in the exact same spot in the net!). Northern Ireland, urged on by a record 60,000 Windsor Park crowd, had two young midfield partners called Danny Blanchflower and Jimmy McIlroy dictating the pace and the pattern of the match. They were on the verge of their first victory over England since 1927 when Elliott silenced the celebrating fans with an equalising header in the desperate closing moments. Billy Wright and Jimmy Dickinson were the match stars for England, steadying the ship with their cool defensive work when the Irish threatened to take a stranglehold on the game. Team manager Walter Winterbottom was furious over the goal that Charlie Tully scored direct from a corner-kick. Charlie was famous for his in-swinging corners, and England had worked at cutting them out in training by placing Alf Ramsey on the near post and then centre-half Jack Froggatt directly behind goalkeeper Gil Merrick. The corner from which he scored was curling towards Ramsey, who suddenly ducked under the ball. Gil reached out but only caught thin air as the ball swung into the net. Alf said later that he thought Gil had shouted "mine", but it had apparently been one of the Irish forwards. The crowd went berserk when the ball hit the net. And no wonder - it was Northern Ireland's first international goal for eighteen months!
 

After England's successful visits to Italy and Austria in the summer of 1952 it may have seemed that she had few problems when the 1952-53 international season began with the match against Ireland in Belfast. The team that defeated Austria 3-2 in Vienna in May was picked without change. Ireland made only two changes from the side that lost to Wales in March. Cunningham was brought in for Graham and Tulley for Lockhart.
England had the narrowest of escape in years. Only a goal by Elliott from Froggatt's centre, after the centre-half had made a great run down the right wing, denied the Irishmen victory over England they have awaited since 1927.
No-one would have begrudged them their victory. The England side was faced by the opponents who were quicker on the ball, fiercer in the tackle, and driven on by a great team spirit. Weaknesses showed themselves in the England forward line, the ball rarely coming across for Lofthouse to use his great gifts in front of goal.
It was he who put England ahead after only 90 seconds, but Ireland soon fought level. Tully, who had a great game on the left wing, scored direct from a corner-kick after 15 minutes. It was Ireland's first goal for eighteen months.
For 20 minutes after this they were without their centre-forward, McMorran, off with a bad cut over his right eye. And it was with only 10 men that Ireland took the lead a minute after the interval. A free-kick by McMichael, a header by Blanchflower, and Tully again did the trick. They were in sight of a well-deserved victory when Froggatt made his sortie and Elliott headed the ball home clean as a whistle.