McAuley Wins Fifth Cap

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27th May 2006

Gareth McAuley extended his Lincoln City FC club record yesterday by winning his fifth cap for Northern Ireland.

Unfortunately for McAuley, who started the match, he could not help his side to a victory. Instead, Northern Ireland lost 2-0 to Romania in the second match of their tour of the United States of America.

Romania took the lead in the 7th minute through Tiberiu Balan. They doubled their lead just six minutes later via a strike from Daniel Nicholae.

Northern Ireland's misery continued in the 31st minute when James Quinn was dismissed for a reckless challenge.

McAuley, for his part, showed why numerous clubs are eager to sign him within the few weeks. Despite being a defender, he had several opportunities to score goals for Northern Ireland but was thwarted by excellent saves from Romania's goalkeeper Cohan Danut.

Jeff Hughes came on as a 64th minute substitute to earn The Imps' left-back his second full international cap. With McAuley still on the field, this meant that history was created because Hughes and McAuley are first Lincoln City FC players to have appeared in the same international team.

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