Goals from Aaron Ramsey and Robert Earnshaw helped Wales to a 2-0 friendly win over Northern Ireland on Friday.The match was part of the inaugural Carling Nations Cup in Dublin and the result saw Northern Ireland finish bottom of the tournament without a point or a goal and having conceded 10 in three matches.
They were slightly better defensively in front of a poor crowd at the Aviva Stadium on Friday, but their resistance was broken after 36 minutes when Arsenal’s Ramsey netted the opener.
Ramsey was the beneficiary of a rebound from Jonny Tuffey’s save, after he pushed Craig Bellamy’s cross away from goal, and from 15 yards out the midfielder buried a well-struck shot high into the net.
Earnshaw capped the victory with his second goal in as many matches for his country with 21 minutes remaining and it was a goal to remember.
After receiving a pass from David Cotterill, Earnshaw took a touch and turned before rifling a swerving shot into the back of the net from outside the area.
The win saw Wales avoid a seventh successive defeat, something they had never done in 107 years of football, and gave Gary Speed his first victory as national team boss.
The Carling Nations Cup comes to a close on Sunday when the Republic of Ireland battle Scotland in the final of the four-team tournament.