Pointless
Sun, Nov 15 2009
Northern Ireland were left pointless after a moderately dull affair at Windsor Park against World Cup bound Serbia.
A goal from Lazović has ultimately ended the year in disappointment, especially given that Worthington bizarrely chose not to take too many risks selecting his squad. Healy was left on the bench with Laffers and Feeney up front.
Serbia looked the decent side they are right from the off with Kuzmanovic forcing Maik Taylor to tip his effort just over the bar. Only moments later though, Niall McGinn nearly put Northern Ireland ahead but Serb 'keeper Isailović did his job. Serbia kept pushing and looked their worth as World Cup qualifiers. Taylor was certainly tested and again had to spare our blushes when Man United's Zoran Tošić fired a shot on 27 minutes.
It was frustrating for the Northern Ireland supporters who yet again presented themselves in numbers, especially given the fact we did have chances but failed to capitalize on them. We were lucky to go in at halftime on an even keel.
We should have gone ahead in the 49th minute after more good work from Niall McGinn. He is certainly starting to look the part and was extremely comfortable in this game. He has pace too, which we have been lacking recently.
Serbia got their reward in the 57th minute after a great dummy from Gojko Kačar gave Lazović a point blank opportunity to beat Taylor. It was disappointing but not unexpected. Stephen Craigan tried for an equaliser only minutes later but a great save from Isailović spared his header. Northern Ireland were certainly keen to get back into the game and Healy replaced Feeney to try to bolster our chances of an equaliser. A free kick from Grant McCann who had earlier replaced Jonny Evans, nearly did the trick but alas the Serbs held on and took a fairly deserved three points.
It was surprising that Worthington played it as safe as he did. Many would have expected a more experimental side, but as with all these utterly pointless friendlies, you can't do right for wrong.
Final Score: N Ireland (0) 0 Serbia (0) 1
HDMOTM: Niall McGinn
Northern Ireland: Taylor (Tuffey 77), Evans (McCann 46), Hughes, Craigan, McCartney, McGinn (McCourt 72), Davis, Baird, Brunt (O’Connor 65), Feeney (Healy 65), Lafferty (Kirk 72)
Serbia: Isailović, Rukavina, Vidić, Luković, Kolarov (Vuković 67), Milijaš, Kuzmanović (Kačar 52), Petrović, Tošić, Jovanović, Lazović (Lekić 77)
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