Rachel Furness thrilled as she secures crucial victory for Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland hero Rachel Furness said she knew her goal was in all the way as she secured a vital win in the UEFA Women’s Euro qualifier in Belarus last night.
By Steven Crawford
Published 28th Oct 2020, 13:00 BST
Northern Ireland's Rachel Furness celebrates after the game. Picture: Philip Magowan / PressEyeNorthern Ireland's Rachel Furness celebrates after the game. Picture: Philip Magowan / PressEye
Northern Ireland's Rachel Furness celebrates after the game. Picture: Philip Magowan / PressEye

The Liverpool forward headed home Demi Vance’s corner three minutes before the break.

Northern Ireland had to play for over an hour with only ten players after goalkeeper Jackie Burns saw red with just 27 minutes on the clock.

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The win though moves Kenny Shiels’s squad up to third in Group C and within reach of second-placed team Wales - and crucially with a game in hand.

“You know what, I said to Demi if you hit my head I’ll score,” Furness told Irishfa.com.

“I just had full belief that we would get the quality and I would finish it. I backed myself with it.

“It was a fantastic delivery and I knew as soon as it hit my head it was in.

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“We are very intelligent, we had to manage the game and if we got an opportunity we had to take it.

“We controlled ourselves at times and when we did break we tried to take the opportunities.

“We managed it very well and I think we thoroughly deserved the three points.

“From back to front it was a great shift from everyone, especially to keep switched on for second balls, which was massive.

“If we didn’t clear the first one we cleared the second.

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“Being down to ten for as long as we were it was great that the girls were switched on for the whole 93 minutes.

“We’ve been growing as a squad throughout the campaign and we do have real belief, we’re playing good football, and we have a great group of girls.

“Anything is possible, but we’ll just take each game as it come,” added the goal scorer.

Related topics:BelarusLiverpoolWales

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