Lavery and record-breaker Donnelly seal famous win for Under 21s
Ian Baraclough's side beat Spain in Euro qualifiers
Northern Ireland’s Under-21s are edging closer to Euro qualification after a famous 2-1 win in Spain.
Goals from Everton’s Shayne Lavery and Motherwell centre-back Liam Donnelly sealed a superb victory for Ian Baraclough’s side.
Captain Donnelly was the hero of the night – grabbing the winner during what was a record breaking 22nd Under-21 appearance.
Young Lavery got the locals off to the perfect start within just four minutes when he beat the Spanish defender before slotting home.
For the winner, Paul Smyth made a superb run into the Spanish box, twisted and turned until being brought down by Guerrero Martin for a penalty.
On his record cap, Donnelly stepped up to score his fifth goal for Northern Ireland’s Under-21s.
Conor Hazard was in fine form throughout and produced save after save for the Under-21s before Rafael Mir got a consolation goal for Spain in the 92nd minute.
A fine collective defensive effort from Northern Ireland saw out the 7 minutes of added time as this group gave their everything and sealed a historic victory in the process.
Northern Ireland will travel to Iceland in their penultimate EURO Qualifying game on the 11th of October before finishing their campaign at home with a game against Slovakia.
Teams
Spain: 1 Sivera (GK), 2 Guerrero Martin, 3 Pedraza, 4 Meré (C), 5 Nuñez, 6 Roca Junque, 7 Soler, 8 Fabián Ruiz, 9 Mayoral, 10 Fornals, 11 Oyarzabal
Northern Ireland: 1 Hazard (GK), 2 McDonagh, 3 Burns, 4 Donnelly (C), 5 Johnson, 6 Dunwoody, 7 Smyth, 9 Lavery, 10 Holden, 11 Sykes, 16 Ballard