In an empty stadium, the Northern Ireland team were left with an empty feeling after missing chance after chance after chance in a scoreless draw against Belarus and a golden opportunity to jump to the top of their Nations League group.
Make no mistake about it, Michael O’Neill’s side should have coasted to victory in Hungary but lacked composure and a clinical edge in front of goal.
Northern Ireland had 12 shots in a dominant first half yet failed to score on what proved to be a disappointing and frustrating evening against opposition that were there for the taking.
The result means O’Neill side’s stay third in the League C table on four points, one adrift of Belarus and Bulgaria, who earlier in the day had drawn 0-0 at home to Luxembourg and visit Belfast on Tuesday night.
With ambitions of first place in their group, Northern Ireland could do with victory then. To achieve it they will need to finish far better than they did in Zalaegerszeg.
There were no fans in attendance in the ZTE Arena stadium because in 2022 UEFA decreed that the Belarus football team, due to the country’s involvement in the Russian/Ukraine war, must play their home games at neutral venues behind closed doors.
Northern Ireland knocked on them time and time again but couldn’t find a way in on the night Liverpool’s Conor Bradley captained the side for the first time.
It was also an evening to remember for teenage goalkeeper Pierce Charles making his senior international debut. Lee Bonis would do the same as a substitute.
With Pierce’s older brother Shea playing, it continued Northern Ireland’s long running tradition of siblings in the same side. The Charles boys join the likes of Danny and Jackie Blanchflower, Victor and Allan Hunter, Jonny and Corry Evans, Jim and Jeff Whitley plus Ryan and Conor McLaughlin.
O’Neill opted for his now accustomed three in central defence. Trai Hume, Paddy McNair and Eoin Toal were given the nod with Bradley and Jamal Lewis operating as wing backs.
In midfield, George Saville joined Charles with Jamie Reid chosen in attack after recovering from a blood clot in his leg that kept him out of last month’s games, supported by Isaac Price and Callum Marshall.
Northern Ireland entered the fixture on three points from their opening two Nations League games and determined to bounce back from a 1-0 loss in Bulgaria having started the campaign with a 2-0 home victory over Luxembourg.
The incentive was there for O’Neill’s young side – win and go top of the group.
In an eerie atmosphere, Northern Ireland were slow out of the blocks and should have gone behind early on when Belarus forward Yevgeny Shikavka headed wide from inside the box.
That was a lucky escape and a wake-up call for O’Neill’s players, who sprung into action and had the ball in the net in the 10th minute through captain Bradley only for the offside flag to rule it out.
Bradley had finished with aplomb after Reid’s header from Marshall’s cross was superbly saved by Fyodor Lapoukhov.
Five minutes later McNair, unmarked in the area, nodded Saville’s free-kick delivery wide knowing he ought to have hit the target.
Not long after that, with Northern Ireland having assumed total control of the contest, Price raced forward but his shot straight at the goalkeeper didn’t match the intent of the run.
Then, on 20 minutes, a glorious opportunity was wasted when Hume’s lofted ball over the top found Reid in space. The Stevenage striker was clear on goal, though in a one-on-one contest with Lapoukhov it was the Belarus man who came out on top.
The chances continued to come for the team in white with Bradley’s surge forward and clever pass setting up Marshall, who was denied by Lapoukhov and followed that up by pushing away the rebound from Lewis.
Dinamo Minsk’s 21-year-old goalkeeper was the busiest man on the pitch and the most influential, saving twice more from Reid.
Rarely on the road can any Northern Ireland team have carved out so many openings before the half hour mark. The problem was in a dominant period they had failed to break the deadlock.
Toal was next to have a go on 40 minutes. Fortune didn’t favour him when his fine header from a Charles delivery beat the goalkeeper but hit the woodwork. Moments later Toal, booked later in the half, nodded the ball home but it was not allowed due to the referee awarding Belarus a free-kick.
At the break this League C clash should have been done and dusted. The frustration for O’Neill and the Green and White Army watching coverage on Viaplay’s YouTube channel was that the ‘away team’ had so many attempts on goal in the first half yet failed to make any count.
The game was much more scrappy after the interval and Northern Ireland were sloppy in possession, creating nothing of note bar when Bradley dragged a shot wide after Price’s set-up.
O’Neill brought on Dion Charles, Brodie Spencer, Bonis, Paul Smyth and Ali McCann but they couldn’t inspire the team to victory in what was a dreary and quiet, in every sense, second half, ultimately ending with two points being dropped for Northern Ireland.
At a noisy Windsor Park on Tuesday, improvement and goals will be needed.
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Michael O’Neill can’t be upset with the chance creation tonight. The finishing has left plenty to be desired, though.