Late show a dream for Josh
JOSH MAGENNIS claimed he was in dreamland after his stoppage-time winner earned Northern Ireland a precious first Nations League victory.
Magennis headed home in the 92nd minute of a dramatic comeback and this win should be enough to avoid relegation to the fourth tier.
“That was the stuff a striker dreams of,” said the Wigan winger. “We were under a lot of pressure and we didn’t play our best football in the first half. We improved in the second half and got the win.”
Substitute Gavin Whyte equalised 82 minutes after the home fans had chanted “We want Bara out” at 1-0 down.
Irish boss Ian Baraclough said: “I understand that is part of the game of football and hopefully the fans can see what we’re trying to do and hopefully their patience will be there.
“At one-nil down it could have gone flat, it could have gone horrible. We made substitutions we thought would benefit us and they came off.
“I enjoyed celebrating the goals and I just felt relief for the players that they got the rewards they deserved for the week’s hard work they’ve put in.
“I applauded the fans at the end and then I went to my office, sat down and took a big breath.
“We’ll enjoy this win tonight and then quickly move on tomorrow. It’s a turning point from June, but not the previous two windows.
“Hopefully we can get a result against Greece on Tuesday and we can look back on three positive windows out of four.”
Baraclough had to deal with Conor Mcmenamin being withdrawn just before kick-off because an old video appeared on social media allegedly showing him supporting the IRA.
Kyle Lafferty was withdrawn 24 hours earlier for allegedly making sectarian comments on a video on social media.
Baraclough admitted: “It’s a distraction you’d rather not have and it happened so close to kick-off.”