Magill proud of NI 'character' in Montenegro draw

Northern Ireland striker Simone Magill praised the "character" of her side to battle back and draw 1-1 with Montenegro in their Nations League play-off.

The result preserves Northern Ireland's place in League B.

"The response after the goal is how we want to start games," she said.

"We showed our character in the second half. It could have been easy to sit in and not concede again but we went and got the equaliser, and were on top at the end of the game.

"This is what we have to look to implement going forward."

Like the first leg in Podgorica, Northern Ireland dominated possession in the first half without creating a clear-cut chance, until at the stroke of half-time when Caragh Hamilton had a shot cleared off the line.

Magill believes that miss was indicative of her side's below par first period at Windsor Park, which she concedes may have been caused by nerves.

"Caragh's miss summed up our first half," she admitted.

"The pressure was on us. It's not often a Northern Ireland team goes into a game and they're not underdogs.

"That maybe showed in the first half. We were 2-0 up at home and we're trying to find our feet at Windsor, but the positive is we got the job done which we set out to do, but there are some frustrations we need to iron out."

Magill, who hit the crossbar with a close range effort a minute before she netted the equaliser, has now scored 25 goals for Northern Ireland, but her first at Windsor Park will live long in her memory.

"It is always special to score for your country. I've never scored at Windsor so it's such a nice feeling to get that goal. I was so frustrated to hit the bar but luckily it came soon after and I couldn't miss."

The 29-year old also lavished praise on substitutes Keri Halliday and Danielle Maxwell, who came on and gave Northern Ireland an added attacking impetus after they had conceded.

"The young kids coming through are our future and it's great to see them get the opportunity.

"We throw the words it's a process and a journey around, but that's very much we're we are it's great to see them make an impact like they did."

'Still more learning to be done'

Rafferty has now won 40 caps for Northern Ireland

Laura Rafferty, who captained the side on the night, echoed Magill's sentiments that there is still room for improvement for Northern Ireland ahead of the Euro 2025 qualifiers, following a period of transition since Tanya Oxtoby was appointed in September.

"We're happy, it wasn't the manner we wanted to do it in, but the job is done.

"These Nations League games are a good preparation for us which we haven't had before and we've introduced a new strategy of play, new players and staff in this campaign, so it has been a lot adapt to.

"A lot has been learnt but there is still a lot of learning to do. The positive I take from the game is that we wanted to win the game, it was 1-1 and we were through, but we still wanted to win that so our disappointment is good."