Thought for the Month - October 2005

N. Ireland 1 : England 0 - By Pastor Ian Wilson

Who would have believed it? It was only Northern Ireland's seventh victory over England in 98 meetings, their first since 1972 and almost certainly the most surprising.

Only the most diehard N Ireland fan would have given the team any chance. I was hoping the score would be at least respectable and not a thrashing. Two nil to England wouldn’t have looked too bad. I couldn’t believe it when my son sent me a text message hailing N Ireland’s marvellous victory.

Killyleagh can rightly be proud of its golden boy, David Healy. He is Northern Ireland’s leading scorer and a vital strike force for Leeds United. Healy's well-taken 74th-minute goal against England will ensure that he joins other N Ireland greats like Gerry Armstrong, Martin O Neill and Pat Jennings, and of course another Killyleagh man, Terry Cochrane who was the last Northern Ireland man to score against England back in 1980.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster on Thursday, Healy remained modest about his goalscoring achievement. "It's one of those where you get your head down, hit it as hard and low as you can, and thankfully it went in", he said. "I was hoping it was going to go in, but when you actually see it hitting the back of the net, that's when you know you've done something special

For England's increasingly embattled manager Sven-Goran Eriksson it was his worst experience in the job. England fans spent much of the second-half chanting, 'Sack the Swede'. Beckham said the defeat was embarrassing. Maybe the winning of the ashes will go some way to restore pride to England’s beleaguered sporting public!

One of the local newspapers carried a headline David 1 Goliath 0. They were comparing the victory by Northern Ireland over England with the famous victory by David over the giant Philistine Goliath.

One can understand the comparison and Goliath certainly didn’t lack confidence when he faced the puny little boy called David.

1 Samuel 17:44 "And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field"

However David should never have been the underdog. David said, “The battle is the Lord’s.” When the Lord is on your side then you are never an underdog. Have you the Lord on your side? You can have, if you trust Him as your saviour. He will always be on your side and he will also be by your side.

Romans 8:31 "If God be for us, who can be against us"

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!