Rate it!

2 votes

Grant McCann scored a superb free-kick but Israel rallied to hold Northern Ireland to a 1-1 draw in a friendly at Windsor Park.

Nigel Worthington viewed the game as ideal preparation for the World Cup qualifiers next month and his side were given a stern examination by a well-drilled Israel side.

McCann opened the scoring on 18 minutes, but Elyaniv Barda scored a close range leveller shortly afterwards.

Both sides made changes in the second half which disrupted the flow of the game, but there were a number of positives - notably the effervescent display of Niall McGinn.

The home side made a confident start, with Sammy Clingan spraying passes to the flanks, but it was Avihai Yadin who had the first chance of the match on seven minutes with a dipping drive that Maik Taylor had to watch closely.

There was a moment of alarm for Northern Ireland on 14 minutes when Yossi Benayoun broke on to a pass from Aviram Baruchian, but Chris Baird tracked back superbly to clear.

Northern Ireland came strongly into the game and took a deserved lead on 18 minutes. McCann drove forward to win a free-kick, dusted himself down and promptly curled a superb left-footed strike over the wall and into the corner.

Israel are a classy outfit and they hauled themselves level on 26 minutes with a swift counter. The home side gifted possession to Roberto Colautti who flicked the ball wide to Baruchian and his cross was inch-perfect for Barda to stab home from five yards.

Northern Ireland are always dangerous when delivering crosses into the box and they proved the point when Kyle Lafferty's header forced a save from Dudu Aouate.

Israel grasped the game by the scruff of the neck in the 15 minutes before the interval and Tamir Cohen squandered two good chances.

He headed a corner wastefully wide from six yards and then seconds later saw a powerful header cleared off the line by Damien Johnson.

Worthington made a host of changes at the break and substitutes McGinn and Steven Davis combined within a minute of the restart to carve out a chance.

McGinn dashed down the right and beat two players with ease, delivered the ball into the box for Davis but he mistimed his header and the ball went wide.

Israel continued to knock the ball around with confidence but they were not so precise in front of goal and their efforts were summed up when Baruchian sliced horribly wide from 18 yards.

Jonathan Tuffey is rated extremely highly at Partick Thistle and the young keeper, brought on for Taylor at the break, showed exactly why with a superb reflex save with his left boot to deny Colautti.

Lafferty squandered a late headed chance from 12 yards from a cross from Baird, but there were positives to take from the game for Northern Ireland.

Alex Livie / Eurosport