If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere.
That well known line of prose came from the pen of Seamus Heaney, the most famous person to come out of Bellaghy. In football terms, though, he’s outstripped by Sarah McFadden, the Northern Ireland centurion who has the distinction of leading her country out in their first ever match at a major women’s tournament.
That was against Norway back at the Women’s Euro 2022 Finals and now the same opposition stand in the way of another Euro qualification.
Northern Ireland manager Tanya Oxtoby joked about freezing on the touchline at Inver Park on Friday evening — not because of nerves, but the temperature of a November night in Larne.
If Oxtoby, an Australian who is used to a winter climate in her homeland similar to Northern Ireland summers, thinks that the east-Antrim coast is cold, it’s nothing compared to the sub-zero temperatures that will welcome the squad when they go to Oslo for the second leg next week.
The Finals in the sunny climes of Switzerland next summer is the dream, but first comes the heat of battle against a team that have put 16 goals past Northern Ireland in three games over the last five years and conceded just one.
Oxtoby is only looking to the future, though.
“We are so forward thinking within this group and we want to make our own history and develop and go on our own journey,” said Oxtoby.
In order to progress against a team ranked 16th in the world, Northern Ireland know they will have to produce almost the perfect performance. Any mistakes and Norway have the world-class quality to capitalise and the dream will soon die.
“It’s about controlling the bits that we can impact — we’ve spoken about that all week,” said Oxtoby.
“Let’s control the things that we can impact on and that’s our performance,
“We can only control the way that we execute things and we need that consistency across 90-plus minutes to do that.
“Norway are a brilliant squad and we want to be competing at the highest level so if you want to be competing at the highest level, you’ve got to play the best players.”
In Oxtoby’s 14 games in charge, Northern Ireland have yet to deliver a complete performance. Yes, there have been wins and even in defeat against Portugal in June, they impressed.
This would be the perfect time to deliver the perfect game.
“I would love a 90-plus minute performance,” said Oxtoby. “The thing when you play teams like this is you’ve got to manage the momentum of the game.
“We need to stay concentrated to do that and it’s a really good challenge for our young squad.”
Oxtoby faces selection decisions on the back of the extra-time win over Croatia in the Semi-Final.
The impact of the tactical and personnel changes she made during that game were clear to see even before Lauren Wade hit the superb winning goal. Chloe McCarron coming on in midfield increased the tempo of the contest and that could be crucial.
It’s not just what Northern Ireland do that is important to Oxtoby, it’s how quickly they can do it — the pace of play that separates the top players from mere mortals.
“It’s looking at Norway and how we can hurt them and stop their strengths, but also it is players who are in form,” said Oxtoby.
“What we do is not going to change. The speed at which we do it and the nature and areas in which we do it might.
“It’s a great challenge for us because if we get it wrong, they have got players who can hurt us.
“All we do in preparation is make sure the players feel prepared and confident in what we are asking them to do.
“They are going to have to do it and they are going to have to do it quicker and they are going to have to make better decisions in the moment — and that is a great challenge for them.”
If Northern Ireland can get through the challenge of a cold winter, the summer can’t come quickly enough.