A heartwarming moment has been posted on X by the official Northern Ireland football handle showing midfielder Danielle Maxwell's father crying tears of joy as his daughter scored her first international goal for Northern Ireland.
The 21-year-old Cliftonville footballer fired home a superb equaliser in the 79th minute to earn a 1-1 draw against Hungary in the UEFA Women's Nations League.
That moment you watch your daughter score her first senior goal for Northern Ireland #GAWA pic.twitter.com/dwvloIt9Pm
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) October 31, 2023
Maxwell was a late addition to the squad, called up to replace injured teammate Kirsty McGuinness.
She was one of over a dozen Sports Direct Women's Premiership stars in the squad, including several of her Cliftonville teammates.
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Despite Northern Ireland's narrow loss to Hungary last Friday, where Maxwell earned Player of the Match honors in her first start, she retained her place in the starting XI on Tuesday and rewarded manager Tanya Oxtoby's faith as her father Danny Maxwell looked on.
The two teams were deadlocked 0-0 at halftime before Hungary took the lead just 11 minutes into the second half.
With promotion hopes fading, Northern Ireland needed inspiration and Maxwell provided it in the 79th minute.
Your @EE Player of the Match Danielle Maxwell with her first international goal #GAWA pic.twitter.com/5gDjtMQ75D
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) October 31, 2023
After being teed up by Simone Magill at the edge of the box, she unleashed an unstoppable side-footed shot into the top corner for her first international goal.
The point keeps Northern Ireland's promotion dreams alive as they sit just one point behind Hungary in Group B1.
Oxtoby will be hoping for more magical moments from Maxwell as her young Northern Ireland side continues its impressive 8 game unbeaten run at Seaview.
In post match interview, the coach said "We've got quality across the park. When we're brave and we want to play, we look good, but we need to do that more often."
"And from my point of view, there's some real good positives to take, but we also need to learn from some of the areas that we're continually kind of, I guess, not developing in at the moment."
