Hat-trick hero Isaac Price described Northern Ireland’s stunning 5-0 victory over Bulgaria at Windsor Park in the Nations League as ‘a dream night’.
Price netted twice in the first half and scored a spectacular effort late on to become the first player since David Healy to net a treble for Northern Ireland as Michael O’Neill’s side put on a five star show to go top of the group.
O’Neill’s side were 3-0 up at the break thanks to Price’s double and Brodie Spencer’s shot hitting the post before rebounding into the net off visiting goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov.
After the interval the Standard Liege man netted a beauty and King of Lyon Josh Magennis came off the bench to make it five amid an electric atmosphere at Windsor where Bulgaria captain Kiril Despodov missed a penalty just before the break.
The Green and White Army loved seeing their young team go goal crazy, with Price at the heart of it.
On his hat-trick, Price said: “It’s hard to put into words really. To do it at home in front of a full Windsor is unbelievable.
“The match ball will go back to my mum and dad’s house now for them to keep. It will be good for them to have it after all the sacrifices they’ve made when I was younger.
“The performance was top by all the lads. We came into the game really focused and once we got the early goal, it kicked us on and to win 5-0 is an unbelievable feeling. Now it’s just about building on it.”
Set up for his third goal by the outstanding Shea Charles, Price added: “I saw Shea sliding and I just thought ‘why not hit it for the hat-trick’ and luckily it hit the back of the net.
“There’s no real feeling like that. When you see the joy in the supporters’ faces, that’s why you’re a footballer. You want to play in front of crowds like that and when it’s at home, there’s nothing like it.
“It think it was as complete a performance as we’ve had. We were very good in the first half against Belarus on Saturday and we could have scored two or three there, but we didn’t and unfortunately came away with a 0-0.
“We were all a bit disappointed and maybe there was a bit of frustration in us for this game and we showed how good we can be and we’re capable of going and beating teams.
“We have a lot of good young players but we all know we aren’t the finished article. But this is something we have to build on and get better at putting teams away like that..
“Winning 5-0 is unbelievable and we can only take confidence from it going into the next games against Belarus and Luxembourg next month.
“We want to top this group and show teams what we’re about.”
Inspirational skipper Conor Bradley added: “I’m really pleased. I’ve seen us in training every day and I know how hard we work and how well training has been going for the last two weeks. I knew something like this was coming around the corner. It was just a matter of time. I’m really happy that it’s happened and hopefully we can push on from here.”
This was Bradley’s first match as skipper at Windsor Park and he relished it, saying: “It’s special and a privilege to be able to wear the armband, especially for this team as everyone works so hard for each other.
“It’s a pleasure to be the captain and walking out at Windsor was a really special moment. I had goosebumps. I’ve loved it. It’s one of the biggest honours of my life.”