Northern Ireland Women v North Macedonia (29/11/2021)

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

MANAGER’S VIEW

Welcome everyone to tonight’s FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 qualifier against North Macedonia. The visitors come to Seaview for a back-to-back fixture with Kenny Shiels’ team, who ran out convincing winners in Skopje four days ago. Northern Ireland are currently ranked 48th in the world compared to the Macedonians who sit at 131 in the FIFA Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking. It is never nice to see anyone lose by a large margin - the visitors are on a journey to develop further - but there can be no room for sentiment . Shiels will be taking nothing for granted as he prepares his team with his customary thoroughness. It was rewarding to see Simone Magill contribute four goals in Skopje after injury and family matters kept her out of some important games previously. Simone, of course, holds the record for the fastest goal by any male or female Northern Ireland international player with a goal after 11 seconds against Georgia in 2016. Her 20 goals now matches Kyle Lafferty’s tally. It was equally pleasing that the hat-trick from Rachel Furness brought her total for Northern Ireland to 36, equalling David Healy’s goalscoring exploits. It is also astonishing that out of 167 official senior women’s international games Julie Nelson has played in 121 of them. This really is a team of role models! The girls in green and white began their quest for a place at the Women’s World Cup 2023 – it is being hosted by Australia and New Zealand – with a 4-0 win over Luxembourg in Larne followed by a 4-0 victory over Latvia in Belfast back in September. Last month they were defeated 4-0 by the group’s top seeds, England, at Wembley and then drew 2-2 with second seeds Austria at home. I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and the family feel at the Austria game, so I am really looking forward to tonight’s match. Whether you are a Berlin Swiftette or one of the Mid Ulster Ladies (to name but two sets of enthusiastic supporters) , I hope that you are in fine voice this evening. The ‘sold out’ sign for approximately 2,300 tickets went up less than two weeks after they went on sale for this qualifier at Seaview – it should be a noisy night! The success in Skopje saw Northern Ireland remain in third place in European Qualifying Group D on 10 points. Prior to this programme going to print , the Austrians (also on 10 points but with a better goal difference) were due to play their game in hand against table toppers England at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on Saturday night . Here’s hoping the outcome of that encounter worked in our favour. Enjoy the game tonight! CONRAD KIRKWOOD PRESIDENT IRISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIAT ION

We are delighted to welcome North Macedonia to Seaview for this FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 qualifier. The game is being played in front of a full house, which is great for the players. I thank each and every one of you for your incredible support. I was pleased when I heard tickets for this qualifier sold out quickly. That’s another indication of how well the team are doing right now and the growing interest in the women’s game in Northern Ireland. Naturally, I was delighted with our performance in the first game of this double header with North Macedonia. The girls played some excellent football in Skopje on Thursday as they registered a record-breaking win. But we must segregate the two games because it’s going to be incredibly difficult to put in another performance like that, and to match such determination, quality and endeavour tonight. Having said that, the girls are well prepared for this second encounter with North Macedonia. We have looked at the psychology of the game and the technical side of the game, and we have also prepared for every eventuality. It’s going to be tough for our players because we have never been in this position before where we have come off the back of such a huge victory and now we are having to consolidate that. It will be hard but we will endeavour to do that. I thought everyone performed well in Skopje. I was particularly impressed with Simone Magill. If you take her goals out of the equation, her all-round performance was magnificent. She made a key contribution to the outcome, and she’s a fantastic footballer with lots of good traits. I felt Rachel Furness drove us on and we defended the counter attack remarkably well. And big congratulations to Furney on equalling David Healy’s goals record for Northern Ireland thanks to her hat-trick on Thursday. Hopefully she can add to the 36 tonight. In the game in Skopje I also thought Demi Vance and Rebecca Holloway formed a good relationship down the left flank, while Rebecca McKenna and Lauren Wade were good on the other side. Lauren was always alert and dangerous. We have got some great combinations there that we can work on. My players show tremendous commitment and desire every time they pull on that green jersey and I am certain they will be up for it again in Belfast. Thanks as ever for your support. It means so much to the players, myself and the backroom staff. Hopefully we will be able to give you all - as well those watching the match at home - something to cheer about. We have had an incredible year in 2021, qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Euros and starting our World Cup qualification campaign strongly, and it would be great to end the year with another victory under our belts.

Bring on 2022! KENNY SHIELS NORTHERN IRELAND WOMEN MANAGER

2

NIR V MKD