IAIN DOWIE, the Northern Ireland captain, was reflecting on the vagaries of his trade after bringing new hope to their ailing World Cup challenge at Windsor Park on Saturday.

Before the game, Dowie hadn't scored at international level since that memorable night 13 months ago when they rushed five goals past Austria and, indirectly, prolonged the Republic of Ireland's European Championship involvement.

More than that, he had failed to hit the target for West Ham in nine months, spawning fresh doubt about his ability to sustain a career which has traversed the whole spectrum of emotion.

Now, he was taking his leave of Windsor Park after scoring twice against Albania and spurning a couple of other inviting opportunities which would have made him the first Northern Ireland player since George Best, 25 years ago, to score an international hat-trick.

"I might have had a couple more but still, a return of two goals from four chances is one that I'll settle for any day," he said. "It's been a tough year, but maybe this is a turning point, not just for me but for Bryan Hamilton and the squad.

"The object of the exercise was to win the game and give ourselves a chance of qualifying for the World Cup finals. There may not have been great individual performances but, as Germany have proved so often, it's teamwork that really counts."

The growing pressure on Hamilton showed in the manner in which he celebrated Dowie's opening goal, but soon his thoughts were turning to the other vital game in the group, that between Portugal and Germany, played later in the day in Lisbon's Stadium of Light.

At that point, he couldn't determine which was the preferred scoreline from an Irish viewpoint. In the event, the scoreless draw was probably one of the least attractive.

It will not only serve to keep both countries highly competitive, it will also render the climb back more difficult for the Irish after the disastrous loss of five home points to the Ukraine and Armenia.

Yet, he was still defiant. "It's going to be very interesting when Portugal come to Belfast in March - this success will see to that," he said.

"I thought we could have won by more. We dominated the game after going two in front but then, not for the first time, we took our foot off the pedal.

Hamilton, deprived of attractive options by injuries, had irked some of his critics by leaving out Phil Gray and choosing to leave Dowie at the front of a 4-5-1 formation. And there were times, undeniably, when they looked vulnerable as the Albanians, in search of their first competitive away win, threatened to turn the day sour for a crowd of 7,000.

On one occasion, Tommy Wright was required to dash outside his penalty to fly kick the ball before German-based Altin RakkIi could make the decisive touch. And it was Rakkli, again, who spread panic with a shot on the turn which skimmed the crossbar.

In those circumstances, the home team had reason to feel thankful when Kevin Horlock fed Steve Lomas and the ensuing cross, struck with the outside of his right boot, gave Dowie the chance to convert the far-post header with some aplomb.

It was the highpoint of another good performance by the Manchester City player who combined with Neil Lennon and the artful Michael Hughes to establish the home team's control in midfield.

Sadly, Hughes, one of seven Irish players on yellow cards going into the game, allowed himself to be enticed into a risky tackle on Ilir Shulku and, after collecting another booking, will now miss the March 29th meeting with Portugal.

The same fate was to befall Horlock in the second half and that was, perhaps, the only disappointment of the afternoon for Hamilton, who will be hoping to have his exciting winger Keith Gillespie back on stream for the Portuguese assignment.

There were times when they missed Gillespie's sleight of foot but with Dowie's second strike in the 22nd minute, when he chested Gerry Taggart's shot past goalkeeper Blendi Nallbani, it seldom threatened to be expensive.

Approaching half-time, Dowie left in the clear in front of goal snatched at a shot when he had time to place it and he probably sensed that two goals was as much as he would get out of the game, when his classical header from a Hughes' cross, struck the base of an upright with the goalkeeper stranded.