Paul Smyth Stars As Northern Ireland End Five-Game Losing Streak

Posted by atmatem3 on October 18th, 2023

Irish penalty kill unit had an outstanding month of December, knocking away 35 out of 38 opponent power play chances with an outstanding 92.1 success rate and placing 8th in CCHA and 21st nationally.

Smyth arrived just in time to volley in Jamal Lewis' dinked cross from the left. Then he turned provider, driving low cross from right wing which Dale Taylor met at near post for his second goal of the match.

Goals

Northern Ireland's win against San Marino did little to address its larger issues; rather, it only moved them closer to England on 14 points with two games left to go.

QPR's Smyth's arrival was the highlight of an otherwise dull affair at Windsor Park. He scored and set up Josh Magennis with two assists on his international debut.

Early on, Michael O'Neill thought Conor Washington should have been sent off after colliding with Lorenzo Lazzari's ankle in the 66th minute - instead referee Bram Van Driessche only booked him. O'Neill believes Conor Washington should have received a red card instead.

Connor Dunlop has quickly emerged as one of the CCHA's premier power play producers this season. He notched seven points (two goals and five assists) in one weekend series against Alaska Fairbanks to lead his team with seven power play goals in 30 games; also scoring four four-point games and 11 multiple point efforts this year.

Smyth’s goal

Paul Smyth took full advantage of his first start for Northern Ireland against San Marino at Windsor Park by setting up two goals in just five minutes - opening with an effective scissors kick after five minutes, as well as helping create Josh Magennis' second goal before sub Conor McMenamin added a late third goal for Northern Ireland.

Smyth thought he had scored his second of the night in the 31st minute when Jonny Evans sent forward a long ball for him to meet with an impressive finish, only for it to be disallowed due to offside. Yet Smyth's performance delighted manager Michael O'Neill.

Northern Ireland broke their five-game losing streak with victory, giving them hope they can still qualify for Euro 2024 with victory against Ukraine in their final qualifying match on Tuesday. San Marino coach Fabrizio Contantini felt substitute Conor Washington should have been shown a red card after colliding with Lorenzo Lazzari's ankle in the 66th minute but referee Bram Van Driessche chose only to book him instead of issuing one.

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Smyth’s assist

Michael O'Neill and his men had already lost five out of six Euro 2024 qualifying matches before this lunchtime kick off against part-time opposition, so Michael O'Neill desperately needed this win against part-timers to keep their Euro 2024 qualification hopes alive before facing Slovenia in two double headers on Tuesday.

Smyth gave Ireland an early advantage after only five minutes, coming on in time to volley home Jordan Thompson's left-foot dinked pass and volleying it home on cue. Just after half-time he again played an instrumental role, setting Callum Marshall up with an low cross which the QPR player turned in at near post to leave Elia Benedettini no chance of stopping him scoring at near post.

Smyth thought he had another after halftime but his volleyed finish was disallowed for offside following a VAR review. Later in the game when his shot was blocked but Conor McMenamin's follow up save kept Ireland in contention late on. Additionally, Ireland proved impressive on penalty kill duty as they held San Marino without scoring on their power-play opportunity for the first game of 2019, breaking their seven game losing streak when giving their opponents this advantage.

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Smyth’s penalty

Michael O'Neill was delighted that QPR player Smyth took full advantage of his first start for Northern Ireland, scoring after seven minutes when he leapt to volley Jamal Lewis' cross and later setting up the second goal when Josh Magennis turned in his low cross.

Before the break, Magennis had two excellent opportunities to add another goal; unfortunately he missed both by heading wide from Paddy McNair's free-kick and then poking a shot wide following a superb through ball from Magennis.

Smyth must demonstrate that he will face cruel or retaliatory treatment from Northern Irish prison officials after serving his current formal imprisonment term. However, the district court did not find that Smyth's treatment would be motivated by religion or political views but by his conviction and sentence for attempted murder of a prison guard.