Jamie Donley’s first international goal gave Northern Ireland a 1-0 win over Luxembourg at a quiet Windsor Park, ending their World Cup qualifying Group A campaign.
Donley, making his first competitive start for Northern Ireland, scored Anthony Morris the wrong way from the penalty spot in the 44th minute after Christopher Martins fouled Kyron Brown in the penalty area, but that was all he needed to settle a disappointing game.
Northern Ireland had hoped this night would be the night they secured second place in their group, but a 1-0 loss to Slovakia in stoppage time on Friday turned this into a hopeless situation. However, thanks to winning the group stage in last year’s Nations League, I was looking forward to advancing to the playoffs in March anyway.
Donley’s first-half penalty made the difference.
Manager Michael O’Neill made six changes, giving Jamie McDonnell his first start, bringing on Connor Hazard for the injured Bailey Peacock-Farrell and bringing Donley, Brown, Jamaal Lewis and Ethan Galbraith back from suspension.
The manager left Trey Hume out completely and left Justin Deveney and Josh Magennis on the bench as there was a risk of suspension for the play-off semi-finals, with the rules for players who have already received a yellow card unclear.
The Northern Ireland manager said on Sunday he had not received a response to a request for clarification on the rules, but the official team sheet showed no players, including those who received yellows, were at risk of suspension.
After a minute of applause in memory of George Best, who passed away 20 years ago this month, the match kicked off in a casual atmosphere.
After Isaac Price hit Morris with a straight volley in the ninth minute, Donley started the game and produced a brilliant move that involved Galbraith, before Price finished with Lewis, continuing his good form in his first international appearance in 13 months.
Fans were on the edge of their seats when Donley turned in from Galbraith’s cross in the 17th minute, but the goal was canceled as the latter was in an offside position during the build-up.
Luxembourg’s only goal of a disastrous season was a 3-1 defeat at Northern Ireland in September, but they were thrown into crisis after Christopher Martins made his first competitive start in over two years after being denied by a good save from Hazard. Immediately after that, Dirk Karlsson made a big swing.
However, the match was fairly tepid until five minutes before half-time when referee Christo Tober was sent to a screen by VAR Bram van Driessche who spotted Martins catching Brown with his boot.
There was also a half-hearted appeal from the Northern Ireland players who were busy watching Price shoot wide from the edge of the box, but Luxembourg’s fury led to a penalty being awarded.
Both Morris and manager Dan Hiett, who had replaced the suspended Geoff Strasser on the touchline, were booked in for a protest before Donley stood up to score Northern Ireland’s 100th World Cup qualifying goal at Windsor Park.
Amidst the many changes made in the second half, Magennis achieved 86 caps, making him the 10th most capped player for Northern Ireland alongside Keith Gillespie, while Barnsley’s Patrick Kelly also made his debut, but the poor competition faded.
The match ended with Luxembourg appealing for a penalty after Benfica’s Leandro Barreiro fell under a challenge from Kelly, but Tovar waved away his protest at the final whistle.
O’Neill praises Donley’s ‘true qualities’
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said of Jamie Donley in the post-match press conference:
“Jamie is a real player, he has real quality. I wanted to see him as a nine. It’s no secret that the nine is a problem position for us and I think Jamie has different attributes than other strikers.”
“I thought he did really well in the game. He was smart and his link-up play was good. He took the penalty well and saw the end of the goal that was canceled. Ethan was offside, but you could see the quality that Jamie showed in that moment.”
Donley attracted attention during his time at Leyton Orient last season, but this season has been even more difficult as his game time for Stoke has been limited, making just six appearances so far.
“It’s disappointing that his current loan from Spurs to Stoke hasn’t gone as planned and he hasn’t been given more opportunities, but we hope that the situation will be resolved in January,” O’Neill added.
“He’s a player of a really high technical level, great left foot, real awareness and great vision, a really good footballer – simple as that. I watched him in a lot of games last year at Orient and I thought he was the best player on the pitch…
“He’s only 20 years old and has a lot ahead of him.”
