Northern Ireland dashed the All Whites' hopes of recording a win in New Zealand's 600th senior representative men's football fixture on June 2, overcoming Anthony Hudson's side 1-0 in front of 16,815 fans at Windsor Park. The Irish scored the only goal of the game with their first attack of note, in the sixth minute. Ollie Norwood - whose confrontational approach throughout proceedings surprisingly didn't earn him an entry in referee Laurent Kopriwa's notebook - took advantage of Chris Wood's loss of control of the ball to spark a slick move. Matthew Lund also featured in the raid with a lay-off to Josh Magennis, whose angled pass picked out Liam Boyce on the right. He took on Tommy Smith before jinking inside and unleashing a shot from the edge of the area between the defender and the covering figures of Tom Doyle and Andrew Durante, an effort which left Stefan Marinovic wrong-footed and unable to prevent this early strike from hitting the net. The All Whites' 'keeper was kept busy in the next five minutes by Magennis, who twice forced saves from the custodian, latterly via a header from a Norwood corner, but initially at the culmination of a slick right flank raid featuring Conor McLaughlin, Tom Flanagan and Boyce. After this bright initial flurry, the game swiftly developed into a war of attrition, niggly fouls frequently punctuating the action, which was also noteworthy for too many over-hit passes by the home side, and very little attacking threat from the FIFA Confederations Cup Finals contenders. Indeed, there were just three further incidents of note prior to the half-time whistle, the first of which materialised just before the half-hour mark. Northern Ireland 'keeper Michael McGovern went route one, his clearance flicked on by Magennis to Boyce, only for the covering figure of Michael Boxall to intervene in timely fashion. Ten minutes later, McLaughlin had a thunderbolt ruled out for a foul in the build-up, while on the stroke of half-time, Magennis caught Doyle in possession and cut in from the right, only for Marinovic to block his low drive at the near post. The effects of their half-time cuppa were instant for the All Whites, as they finally showed some attacking intent in the early stages of the second spell. Smith played the ball down the line to Wood, who, on the occasion of his fiftieth appearance in all matches for his country, held the ball up well on the left before inviting Ryan Thomas to let fly from the edge of the area. Flanagan blocked his shot, but the ball was swiftly recycled out to Kip Colvey, who combined with Thomas to pick out Wood with a cross which the captain turned into the stride of Doyle. His twenty-five yarder fizzed past the far post three minutes after play had resumed.

Back came the Irish, McLaughlin combining with Magennis on the right. The striker got the better of Smith before curling in a delightful cross which half-time substitute Kyle Lafferty, with his first touch, volleyed first-time narrowly past the far post after getting in ahead of Boxall to meet the ball. Cue another lull in proceedings, this time with the added disruption of substitutions. Those made by All Whites' coach Anthony Hudson certainly served his side well, as the newcomers brought some much-needed zip and zest to the black-clad team's cause. After Magennis had gone close with a header from substitute Shane Ferguson's cross, the visitors came desperately close to bagging an equaliser with what was their best move of the match, nineteen minutes from time. Smith linked up with half-time substitute Bill Tuiloma, who sent fellow newcomer Costa Barbarouses dashing through the inside left channel. He cut inside before curling a shot around McGovern and between two retreating defenders, only to see the sphere rebound back into play off the inside of the far post. It was a real let-off for the Irish, who came under increasing pressure from the All Whites as they sought an equaliser. But the home team kept their opponents at bay, and could well have pinched a second goal at the death - Marinovic saved Norwood's effort after a Steven Davis-led counter-attack which also involved fellow substitutes Lafferty and Ferguson. While the Euro 2016 finalists now prepare for a World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan in a week's time, the All Whites take on Dublin side Cabinteely FC at Stradbrook Park from 6am on Tuesday NZ time, before clashing with Belarus in Minsk prior to contesting the FIFA Confederations Cup Finals, where host nation Russia, Mexico and Portugal provide the opposition. Such fixtures were a pipe dream when the national team first kicked a ball in anger against the touring New South Wales side on July 23, 1904, at Dunedin's Caledonian Ground. Ironically, the All Whites lost that match 1-0 as well, but in between times they've won 235 and drawn 105 of the games they've played against all opposition - including the national sides of 72 countries, scoring 1058 goals and conceding 1085 all told. N. Ireland:     McGovern (Carroll, 83); Flanagan, Hughes, Evans; McLaughlin, Lund (Davis, 46), Norwood, Brunt (Ferguson, 46), Dallas (Paton, 74); Boyce (Lafferty, 46), Maginnis (McCarten, 83) All Whites:     Marinovic; Boxall, Durante (booked, 87), Smith; Colvey (Patterson, 63), Lewis (Tuiloma, 46), McGlinchey, Thomas (Smeltz, 79), Doyle (Wynne, 72); Rojas (Barbarouses, 63), Wood Referee:     Laurent Kopriwa (Luxembourg)