Northern Ireland fail to beat the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands caused a major upset as they held Northern Ireland to a 1-1 draw in their European Championship qualifier.
Christian Holst scored the opening goal for the Faroes, before Kyle Lafferty equalised for Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland dominated the first half, but the Faroes dogged defence kept the likes of Lafferty at bay.
The Rangers striker missed a number of chances in the first half and was denied by Faroes goalkeeper Jackup Mikkelsen who produced a good save after Lafferty struck a fierce drive from 20 yards.
The Northern Ireland goalkeeper Maik Taylor had very little to do in the first half, but he did have to make two routine saves from Holst and Simun Samuelsen.
Jonny Evans went close from 30 yards and then headed over from close range after he was pressured by the Faroe Island defender Daniel Udsen.
The home side managed to hold on until half time and the two sides went in even at the break.
In the second half Northern Ireland tried to up the tempo of the game and they should have punished the Faroes early in the second half when Steven Davis slipped a pass to Niall McGinn.
The Celtic wide man only had the goalkeeper to beat, but he fired his shot wide from a tight angle after he rounded the goalkeeper.
David Healy was left out of the starting 11, but he came on for Warren Feeney and almost scored after his shot was well held by Mikkelsen.
The goalkeeper then produced a fine save from Lafferty after the striker produced a header towards the top corner of the goal.
However, for all Northern Ireland's domination it was the Faroes who took a shock lead.
Some sloppy defending by Stephen Craigan allowed Udsen to pick up the ball and play in Holst. The striker struck a low shot past Taylor from 10 yards out to score the opening goal.
The Faroes defence tried to hold on to their lead as Northern Ireland poured forward in search of an equaliser.
Lafferty came to the rescue in the 76 minute. The Rangers striker skipped past a number of challenges before finding Chris Brunt who played in Lafferty. The striker sent a low shot past Mikkelsen from 20 yards out to give Northern Ireland a deserved equaliser.
Northern Ireland pushed on, but failed to find an equaliser. The result will come as a huge blow to the Irish who had recorded a shock win against Slovenia and a home draw against Italy to put themselves in a great position in the table.
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