It had been a long weekend already. Planning, out-of-towners arriving, getting this morning's breakfast ready after only two hours sleep and then rushing to the airport to catch the flight to Belfast City Airport.

Lucy, our stunningly beautiful stewardess on the Jersey European flight, knew something was up when she heard Ukrainian folk songs booming through the cabin. Never mind the orders of beer and cognac at eight in the morning. I asked her if they knew they were running a football special. She laughed and said no.

Propping up the bar in Belfast

Our hosts at the hotel were similarly amused. By noon, the hotel bar was full to bursting. Every so often chants of "YKPAIHA!" would swell up amongst the masses. It was an atmosphere of expectation, fuelled by patriotism, exhibiting itself in sheer revelry.

As three o'clock approached we began the march to Windsor Park, the object of this entire exercise. Dozens of flags were flying, most everyone's faces painted blue and yellow. Half our group were wearing vyshytja, and about a dozen were fully kitted out in sharyvary, jupany and chobuty. The big bass drum was booming as horns pierced the otherwise tranquil afternoon air. The local residents, bemused, came out of their homes to watch the spectacle.

Halfway to the ground, we heard a roar from behind us. The other part of our ensemble were arriving, equally colourful, equally loud but twice as big! We massed together and marched as one over the final few hundred metres to the stadium. As we streamed into the ground, the players were in warm up and there were quite a few puzzled looks on their faces. They clearly had no idea what was going on.

On the roof of the opposite side of the stadium, massive Ukrainian, FIFA and Northern Ireland flags flapped earnestly in the wind. The weather was kind to the players, not very hot, sunny and not too strong a wind.

Ukrainian fans cheer on the side

It was clear that the Ukrainian delegation were quite taken aback. Several Ukrainian Football Association, Dynamo Kyiv and other officials took their seats at the front of our section, looking at us with confused expressions on their faces. A couple of folks went up to them and introduced themselves. As it turns out, few of them could speak Ukrainian so it was a bit of an embarrassed half-conversation apparently.

Then the band struck up. And as the first notes wafted over we all broke into the anthem. I've sung Sche Ne Vmerla many times, but rarely have I ever sung it with such conviction of purpose. In actual fact, perhaps singing is not quite the right word to describe it. We shouted it! And we shouted it loud!! A press photographer on the other side of the stadium later confided that you could probably have heard it clearly a mile away. The band conductor turned to us and began taking his cues from our voices. The players turned their heads to see where all the noise was coming from. What they would have seen was about 250 supporters, flags waving and voices booming urging them to give everything they had. With the final note, the horns started again, more noise and then silence. With much less force and certainly less fanfare, we all sang along to God Save the Queen. And then it began.

With a quick burst of the whistle and a swift boot to ball, Ukraine's first ever World Cup qualifying match was underway. It was a pretty uneven first few minutes, but a few things were clear off the top. Northern Ireland were obviously not in top form and were looking quite lethargic. The Ukrainian midfield was solid and pretty well in firm control. Our defense was sound, and the midfield was mixing it up pretty well and stretching the Irish defense fairly regularly. And that's what led to what should have been Ukraine's opening goal. The ball was played into Leonenko at the top of the area. He spun and drove a low, hard drive just to the side of the Irish keeper, Nottingham Forest's number two, Alan Fettis. Fettis however, managed to get a foot to it just in time and the strike sailed wide. On the whole, however, this was a dire first half in entertainment terms. There weren't many sparkling runs and not much to elicit any real degree of passion out of the spectators. Nonetheless, we did our best to sing loud and proud for our boys. It came close to peril not long before the halftime whistle when the Dynamo Kyiv keeper Shovkovsky scooped the ball off the line after initially mishandling it. There were other moments for both sides but those were their best.

At the half, I had a chance to speak to a gentleman by the name of Victor, a director with Dynamo Kyiv. I moaned to him about Shovkovsky's habit of punching the ball, which made me quite nervous. It nearly led to grief a few times in the first half. We also talked about Dynamo's unfortunate lapse against Rapid Vienna in the Champions League qualifier. He couldn't hide his disappointment. But it was now time for the second half...

Northern Ireland had clearly taken the break to their advantage. They were much brighter, Newcastle United's Keith Gillespie inspiring some much improved midfield play. Despite this, the Irish were still struggling to trouble the Ukrainian defense. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian offense was still causing the Irish some trouble, mixing in deep, long ball lobs with short quick passing. It was quite a positive display and much more entertaining. And in fact it was Gillespie who might have had the opening goal. A quick darting run down the right flank and a delightful, perfect chip caught Shovkovsky short. As the ball drifted painfully over the keeper's outstretched hands, Gillespie raised his arms in expectant celebration as the ball arched towards the corner of the Ukrainian goal. But like a bolt of blue lightning, Shakhtar Donetsk defender Popov raced in and miraculously headed off the line to save the day. It was a remarkable save. The game seemed to settle and as the clock edged towards the eighty minute mark the sense grew that this was going to end a 0-0 draw. But there was still some magic left.

Rebrov heads the winning goal

A free kick was granted the Ukrainians halfway inside the Irish half. It was taken quickly and you'll have to forgive me, I lost track of who was what number now, but our number nine held the ball looking for someone to pass to. Just then our number three raced down the left flank behind him. The pass was made and having the advantage of already being up to speed, our number three managed to get around his Irish marker and put in a magnificent cross. Rebrov of Dynamo Kyiv was not marked and rose to head the ball firmly at goal. Fettis managed to get a hand to it but it got past him. I saw the ball heading toward to corner but could not tell if it was wide or not. As soon as I saw netting in front of the ball...

Bedlam!!!!

And it lasted for the next ten minutes. Dancing, singing, hugging. Airhorns melting the air. That big bass drum pounding. Even the staid Ukrainian officials were joining in finally. Sheer mania!!

We very nearly went 0-2 up within a couple of minutes, but Fettis squeezed the ball between his ankles to deny further celebrations. But then nervousness set in as the Ukrainians began to sit on their lead, waiting for the whistle. It is so dangerous a practice but an entirely natural response and ever so frustrating for the support. The French referee seemed to play endless extra time during which the Irish poured forth with abandon and forced several dangerous moments. But when the whistle finally went the celebrations began anew. Several Irish supporters came over to shake hands and congratulations and commiseration were exchanged.

Ukrainian team celebrate

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