Northern Ireland 1-0 New Zealand

Liam Boyce scored his first international goal as Northern Ireland beat New Zealand 1-0 in Belfast.

The 26-year-old opened his account in the 6th minute of a game which was largely dominated by the home side.

He was sent clear down the right by his strike partner Josh Magennis, but the Ross County man still had plenty of work to do. He cut back inside, bought a yard of space to get away from Tom Doyle, and from just inside the box he drove a low shot into the bottom right corner.

Boyce combined well with Magennis before being substituted at half time, which would suggest he is now Michael O'Neill's first choice to spearhead the attack in Baku next weekend in the World Cup qualifier with Azerbaijan.

Kyle Lafferty came on in his place, and nearly scored in the opening minutes of the 2nd period, narrowly missing after flying in to connect with a Magennis cross.

The Charlton forward almost scored himself in the 66th minute, rising high to head a Shane Ferguson cross onto the roof of the net.

New Zealand generally failed to trouble home goalkeeper Michael McGovern, although he did find himself beaten by a curling shot from Barbarouses which came back off his post.

More often than not, they were easily handled by a Northern Irish defence made up of a back three consisting of Aaron Hughes, captain Jonny Evans and debutant Tom Flanagan.

The 25-year-old Burton Albion man looked comfortable for most of his first senior appearance at international level.

Shay McCartan also made his debut, coming off the bench towards the end to replace Josh Magennis. The Accrington Stanley attacker showed flashes of flair, driving at the New Zealand defence with a late surging run which won a free kick in a decent position.

One of the largest cheers of the night was saved for veteran goalkeeper Roy Carroll, who came off the bench to make an appearance in his club's home stadium.