GAVIN Whyte's late header earned 10-man Northern Ireland an unlikely draw and their first ever Nations League point as it finished 1-1 against Romania in Bucharest, but manager Ian Baraclough owed a huge debt to his goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
The Green and White Army were frustrated for much of the night, falling behind when George Puscas poked Romania in front after 25 minutes, and then losing Josh Magennis to two soft yellow cards before half-time.
Peacock-Farrell made a string of top-class saves to keep his side in it in the second half before substitutes Kyle Lafferty and Whyte combined to snatch an equaliser four minutes from time.
There was still time for Peacock-Farrell to make another fine save, pushing Denis Alibec's shot on to the crossbar.
Asked what impressed him about his side, Baraclough said: "I think the patience in the second half, definitely. We talked about when to spring out, when to shuffle across, when to deny them space.
"They were always going to go for a second and not settle and that would give you a chance.
"In the first half we were a bit anxious, desperate to do well, and there was always going to be rustiness. but the running power in the second half was immense and made me very proud."
On Magennis' red card, he added: "I just had a quick look and those are challenges that happen all over the pitch. Their guys have gone down easy and squealed, but they've both gone up with their arms up.
"There's no blame on Josh there, it's just the referee's interpretation, it's a tough one but we just have to live with it."
The second half will offer huge encouragement to Baraclough - appointed to replace Michael O'Neill back in April but only now getting his first game in charge.
And much of it was down to another man who has endured a long wait for action, with Peacock-Farrell showing why Burnley have handed him a new contract if not yet a debut as he starred on his first competitive outing since Northern Ireland's last match in November.
"It's up there for me, in the manner of the game, the way it was, 10 men and 1-0 down and with the saves all at 1-0 to keep us in the game,'' said star goalkeeper Peacock-Farrell.
"They may not have been the best saves but they were important saves and that's all I'm bothered about.''
Half-time, one goal down, what was the NI dressing-room like, what was the message from the new boss?
"It was just about staying in it. It was only one goal,'' he said.
"It was obviously a difficult situation with 10 men but it's about being patient, staying in the game for as long as possible to frustrate them and that's what we did.''
On goalscorer Whyte, he added: "We know what you get from Gavin, he's direct and aggressive, the way he runs, the speed he carries with the ball and gets up the pitch.
"He's a great player, he came on and did what he needed to do so credit to him.''
Looking ahead to their next Nations League clash against Norway on Monday night at Windsor Park in Belfast, Peacock-Farrell was upbeat: "It's at home, that's an advantage for us.
"Yeah, they've got some great players but so do we. I think we can take a lot from this game and bring it in to Norway.''
It was a cagey beginning, with debutant Daniel Ballard - in for the absent Jonny Evans - looking composed, but the match was frequently interrupted by the referee of Francois Letexier, who awarded 22 free-kicks in the first half alone.
It was from one of those in the 25th minute that Romania scored.
Northern Ireland lined up to defend a cross but Ianis Hagi centered for the unmarked Nicolae Stanciu.
Peacock-Farrell did well to get down as the ball flew through the crowd towards the bottom corner, but could only push it to Vlad Chiriches who squared for Puscas to tap home into an empty net.
It took another 10 minutes for Northern Ireland to threaten and it was the debutant Ballard who got on the end of the Paddy McNair's free-kick, but he struggled to get any power into the effort and Ciprian Tatarusanu gathered comfortably.
Moments later, Northern Ireland were down to 10. Magennis could have considered himself unlucky to have been shown yellow 13 minutes in after an aerial tangle with Nicusor Bancu, and there was not much more in the second incident as Alexandru Maxim made the most of an arm across his shoulder.
A man down and a goal down, Northern Ireland were on the back foot throughout the second half as Peacock-Farrell took centre stage.
Puscas should have doubled the lead when picked out by Alexandru Cicaldau's cross and perhaps thought he had before Peacock-Farrell got a strong hand to his header.
More routine saves followed but Romania were queueing up to shoot as Northern Ireland struggled to get out of their own half.
Peacock-Farrell clawed away Stanciu's bending shot and was then beaten by his own team-mate in the 72nd minute as Corry Evans slid in to block Bancu's cross but the ball bounced back off the post.
Baraclough had sent on Whyte and Lafferty in the hope of snatching something, and they did just that with four minutes of normal time remaining, with Lafferty heading on a long ball into the box and Whyte running through to nod home.
Peacock-Farrell joined the celebrations, but was then back on his line to push Alibec's powerful effort on to the bar and secure the point.
UEFA Nations League B - Group 1
Romania (1) 1 Northern Ireland (0) 1
Romania: Tatarusanu, Hanca (Nedelcearu 86), Chiriches, Tosca, Bancu,
Stanciu, Cicaldau (Nistor 74), Maxim, Hagi (Cretu 56), Puscas,
Alibec.
Subs Not Used: Iancu, Stefan, Burca, Grigore, Bus, Lazar, Deac, Nita,
Coman.
Booked: Hagi,Nistor.
Goals: Puscas 25.
Northern Ireland: Peacock-Farrell,Dallas,Ballard (Smith 90),
Cathcart, Lewis, Magennis, Corry Evans (Lafferty 77), Davis, Saville,
McNair, Washington (Whyte 65).
Subs Not Used: Lavery, McGinn, Thompson, Cooper, Carson, Ferguson,
McGovern, McLaughlin, Boyce.
Sent Off: Magennis (39).
Booked: Magennis, Corry Evans.
Goals: Whyte 86.
Norway (0) 1 Austria (1) 2
Norway: Jarstein,Elabdellaoui,Reginiussen,Ajer,Aleesami,
Thorsby (Linnes 61),Berge,Normann,Johansen (Henriksen 68),
King (Sorloth 64),Haland.
Subs Not Used: Hovland,Svensson,Berg,Gabrielsen,Rossbach,Nyland,
Fossum,Meling.
Booked: Normann,Linnes,Sorloth,Haland.
Goals: Haland 66.
Austria: Alexander Schlager,Lainer,Posch,
Hinteregger (Dragovic 40),Ulmer,Onisiwo (Baumgartlinger 86),
Ilsanker,Xaver Schlager,Baumgartner,Sabitzer,
Gregoritsch (Grbic 79).
Subs Not Used: Monschein,Trimmel,Pervan,Wober,Lienhart,Zulj,
Stankovic,Grillitsch,Ranftl.
Booked: Lainer,Dragovic.
Goals: Gregoritsch 35,Sabitzer 54 pen
(AP Photo/Alex Referee Francois Letexier shows the red card to Northern Ireland's Josh Magennis, second from right, during the UEFA Nations League soccer match against Romania at the National Arena stadium in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Sept 4, 2020.
(AP Photo/Alexandru Dobre)
