Northern Ireland Women secure away win over Czechia
Goals either side of half-time from Sarah McFadden and Kerry Beattie earned Northern Ireland Women a 2-0 win away to Czechia.
The hosts started the brighter of the two sides and had an early chance to take the lead when Lucie Jelinkova's effort flew just over the crossbar from a corner.
Minutes later the away side, looking to bounce back from defeat to Scotland, punished them for that miss when McFadden broke the deadlock to make it 1-0.
Three minutes after the break Northern Ireland doubled their advantage as half-time substitute Beattie made an instant impact.
Andrea Staskova drilled a free-kick over the bar for the hosts before Caragh Hamilton passed up an opportunity to net a third.
The result will offer Northern Ireland – currently 45th in the Coca-Cola FIFA Women’s World Ranking list compared to Czechia’s 27th – a welcome boost.