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

NORTHERN IRELAND WOMEN DEFEAT NORTH MACEDONIA 11-0 Words: Nigel Tilson

Northern Ireland’s senior women’s team were relentless in the first instalment of their World Cup qualifiers double header against North Macedonia. Kenny Shiels’ side were simply superb as they claimed another three points in European Qualifying Group D with an 11-0 victory in Skopje on Thursday. Four goals from Simone Magill , a hat-trick from Rachel Furness and goals from Rebecca McKenna, Lauren Wade, Kirsty McGuinness and Rebecca Holloway secured the sensational win. It was the Northern Ireland senior women’s team’s biggest ever victory home or away – and Furness’s hat-trick meant she equalled David Healy’s goalscoring record for Northern Ireland. The midfielder now has 36 goals for her country. Shiels’ team completely dominated the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 qualifier at the Football Federation of North Macedonia Training Centre. Northern Ireland opened the scoring after four minutes. Demi Vance’s pinpoint delivery to the back post found Furness and she tucked the ball home. On 10 minutes Wade broke down the right and fed the ball back to McKenna who blasted it into the top corner. It was her first goal for Northern Ireland and it was a lovely finish to put her team two up. The third goal followed a minute later. This time Furness fed Magill inside the area and she slammed the ball into the bottom corner. In the 16th minute Furness was hauled down inside the area by North Macedonia midfielder Elma Shemsovikj and she brushed herself down to slot the resulting penalty past keeper Magdalena Lekovska to make it 4-0. Skipper Marissa Callaghan fired an effort against the bar before Northern Ireland were awarded another penalty when Viktorija Nedeva fouled McGuinness inside the area on 23 minutes. This time, however, Lekovska was equal to a tame effort from Furness. Northern Ireland’s fifth came soon after when a Holloway cross eventually found its way to Wade who curled a beautiful effort into the top corner from 16 yards. That goal came in the 26th minute and goal number six followed seven minutes later. Holloway slipped in McGuinness down the left and from an angle she slotted the ball into the bottom corner. Magill grabbed her second of the game on 42 minutes. Holloway was once again the provider. She slipped past a couple of markers and crossed for the striker to cleverly tap the ball home from close range. Rachel McLaren made her senior debut after replacing Crusaders Strikers team-mate Julie Nelson at half-time. Early in the second half Wade let fly from the edge of the area and was unlucky to see her effort cannon off the bar, and a

minute later Furness saw her long range effort tipped on to the bar by Lekovska. Furness completed her hat-trick in the 68th minute, rifling the ball home from 10 yards. Magill got her hat-trick moments later, however, when a defender’s kick-out was intercepted by the striker and she swept the ball past the keeper. She made it 10-0 as full-time approached. Northern Ireland keeper Jackie Burns punted the ball forward and it evaded the home defence, however Magill nipped in behind them and cleverly lobbed the keeper. Holloway got the goal that her overall performance deserved when she netted number 11 in added time. Substitute Nadene Caldwell’s strike was palmed down by the keeper into Holloway’s path and she tucked the ball in from eight yards to complete the memorable rout . It was also her first goal for Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland: Jackie Burns, Rebecca McKenna, Demi Vance, Sarah McFadden, Julie Nelson, Rebecca Holloway, Marissa Callaghan (captain) , Rachel Furness, Simone Magill , Lauren Wade, Kirsty McGuinness. Substitutes: (used) Chloe McCarron, Rachel McLaren, Kelsie Burrows, Nadene Caldwell , Caragh Hamilton; (unused) Becky Flaherty, Maddy Harvey-Clifford, Ciara Watling, Louise McDaniel , Joely Andrews, Kerry Beattie. North Macedonia: Magdalena Lekovska, Teodora Giorg jevska, Ane Boseska, Katerina Mileska (captain) , Elma Shemsovikj, Ulza Maksuti, Aleksandra Markovska, Afrodita Salihi, Viktorija Nedeva, Kristina Petrushevska, Ana Milchevska. Substitutes: Verica Kolevska (GK) , Kristina Pavlovska (GK) , Sara Kolarovska, Hava Mustafa, Sara Husein, Julija Zivikj, Sara Velkova, Elena Petrovska, Teodora Jankovska, Hristina Joshevska, Radica Choneva, Elena Paneska.

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25-11-2021 FFM TRAINING CENTRE, SKOPJE

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