Northern Ireland’s Under-21s produced a great display as they defeated Azerbaijan in a Euro qualifier at Ballymena Showgrounds this afternoon.
Goals from Charlie Allen (penalty), JJ McKiernan, Patrick Kelly and Justin Devenny plus an own goal secured an emphatic 5-0 win for Tommy Wright’s side.
It was Northern Ireland’s penultimate game in Group F of the UEFA U21 Euro 2025 qualifiers.
U21s boss Wright made four changes from the side that started against table toppers Ukraine in their previous Group F match.
With goalkeeper Pierce Charles called up to the senior squad, Stephen McMullan started in nets.
Regular skipper Carl Johnston returned after being elevated to the senior squad last month and Ruairi McConville was restored to the backline after missing the last two games through injury. Also coming in to the starting eleven was attacking midfielder JJ McKiernan.
Dropping to the bench were full-back Terry Devlin and midfielder Darren Robinson, while defender Michael Forbes missed out today.
Wright was hoping his side could build on two excellent performances at the Showgrounds last month. They drew 0-0 with England’s U21s before narrowly losing 2-1 to Ukraine at the same venue.
And they certainly built on those performances – and in some style.
Northern Ireland, who defeated Azerbaijan away (1-0) last October, started on the front foot.
Midfielder Justin Devenny forced a save out of Azerbaijan keeper Rustam Samigullin and then had another effort blocked.
Northern Ireland took the lead on 11 minutes from the spot. Striker Dale Taylor was hauled down inside the area as he raced towards goal and Allen stepped up to coolly slot the resulting penalty into the back of the net.
Azerbaijan wing-back Rufat Abbasov steered an effort wide as the visitors tried to respond.
Allen had an effort blocked before Devenny and midfielder Patrick Kelly both missed opportunities to score.
As half-time approached Azerbaijan striker Musa Gurbanli had a shot blocked before Allen had an effort snuffed out, while Azerbaijan forward Samir Abdullayev drilled a shot wide.
Just after the break Stephen McMullan made a decent stop from Azerbaijan substitute Nariman Akhundzade.
After that, however, Northern Ireland turned on the power and the goals flowed.
They went two up in the 56th minute. Devenny’s corner was met by Aaron Donnelly and he directed his header to the back post where JJ McKiernan applied the finishing touch – a header into the far bottom corner.
Devenny put an effort wide before the home side went further ahead on 64 minutes. This time McKiernan turned provider. He played in Patrick Kelly and he clipped the ball home.
Four minutes later Devenny got the goal that he deserved. He smashed home a free-kick.
In the 81st minute Azerbaijan keeper Samigullin managed to divert a McKiernan shot into his own net.
In the closing stages Northern Ireland substitute Makenzie Kirk missed a chance, but Wright’s team had done more than enough to secure the three points.
The win means Northern Ireland’s U21s have definitely cemented fourth place in six-team Group F with 10 points.
And if they win their final game of the campaign against Luxembourg away on Tuesday (15 October), and third-placed Serbia (13 points) lose against pacesetters Ukraine the same day, they could even finish as high as third behind Ukraine (24 points) and England (22 points), who are vying for top spot going in to the final set of fixtures.
Northern Ireland are due to play fifth-placed Luxembourg (seven points, but with a vastly inferior goal difference compared to Northern Ireland) at the Emile Mayrisch Stadium in Esch-sur-Alzette in south-western Luxembourg on Tuesday (7.30pm BST kick-off).
Northern Ireland: Stephen McMullan, Carl Johnston, Sean Stewart, Ruairi McConville, Aaron Donnelly, Tommy Fogarty, Charlie Allen, Patrick Kelly, Dale Taylor, Justin Devenny, JJ McKiernan.
Substitutes: (used) Terry Devlin, Makenzie Kirk, Matty Lusty, Darren Robinson, Shea Kearney; (unused) Josh Clarke (GK), Jamie McDonnell, Dylan Sloan, Andy Kirk, Josh Briggs.
Azerbaijan: Rustam Samigullin, Rufat Abbasov, Gurban Safarov, Suleyman Damadayev, Jalal Huseynov (captain), Mahir Hasanov, Rauf Rustamli, Emil Safarov, Musa Gurbanli, Samir Abdullayev, Murad Velijev.
Substitutes: Khayal Farzullayev (GK), Abdulla Rzayev, Khayal Aliyev, Farid Yusifli, Aghadadash Salyanskiy, Nariman Akhundzade, Mirali Ahmadov, Emin Rustamov, Shahin Shahniyarov.
