Northern Ireland secure Euros group second spot as Tanya Oxtoby hails ‘how far we’ve come’
Northern Ireland senior women’s manager Tanya Oxtoby celebrated progress by 2-0 past Bosnia and Herzegovina last night with the promise of continued gains from her ever-improving squad.
Goals after the break at Windsor Park by Joely Andrews and substitute Lauren Wade left Northern Ireland sitting second at the end of League B Group 3 heading into Friday’s draw for UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 two-leg qualification play-offs.
Andrews slotted home on 47 minutes following strong work along the left by Casey Howe to square the ball into her path for a decisive close-range finish.
Wade then made her mark by converting after Brenna McPartlan’s pass eventually found the Northern Ireland substitute.
Goalkeeper Jackie Burns celebrated a clean sheet in front of around 2,000 fans at the National Football Stadium following a pre-match presentation to mark recently reaching 50 caps for her country.
”I just said to them at the end...I don’t really know what to say,” a delighted Oxtoby told the Northern Ireland social media channel after full-time. "We changed shape three or four times to try and exploit different spaces to get more pressure on the ball.
"They did that with ease I thought and that just shows how far we’ve come...for them to be able to apply things so fluidly, adapt and manage the game the way we did.
"Everyone played their part and I just thought it was a fantastic performance tonight
"I think we’ve really turned a corner...I felt the last window was like the bend if you like and now I feel like we’re really progressing.
"We’re starting to play the type of football I know these girls can play.
"They’re aggressive, they’re positive, they put teams on the back foot.
"And, for me, that’s super pleasing that we’re heading in the right direction.
"There’s got to be competition for places because that’s how you get players to reach their potential...not only in training obviously but out on the pitch on a game day.
"So we need competition for places all over the pitch.
"You look at the players that we had as finishers tonight...that just speaks to the depth that we’ve got.
"From our perspective, it’s a real positive.
"Everybody has contributed across this window and we talk about the fact that adds value to everything that we do, so it’s a credit to the whole squad that we’re in the position that we’re in.
"The gameplan is the gameplan...we knew we wanted to finish second in this group to give ourselves the best chance in terms of the play-off draw.
"But for us it’s about continuing on our journey and building off the last two windows, in particular.”
NORTHERN IRELAND: Jackie Burns, Rebecca McKenna, Rachel Dugdale, Rebecca Holloway, Laura Rafferty (captain), Brenna McPartlan, Casey Howe, Joely Andrews, Kerry Beattie, Keri Halliday, Danielle Maxwell.
Substitutes: (used) Lauren Wade, Nadene Caldwell, Emily Wilson; (unused) Lauren Perry, Maddy Harvey-Clifford, Demi Vance, Chloe McCarron, Marissa Callaghan, Simone Magill, Kelsie Burrows, Louise McDaniel, Caragh Hamilton.