The Macedonian U21 national team won their second to last qualification match against Northern Ireland to keep alive its chances for EURO 2013.
Although Northern Ireland took the lead when Josh Magennis headed home following a corner from Andrew Mitchell in the 10th minute, Boban Babunski’s men responded by scoring three goals after the break to celebrate a 1:3 road victory.
In the 27th minute, David Babunski showed his skills when he got away from his marker before unleashing a strong shot which was saved by keeper Conor Devlin. Babunski and Filip Timov combined nicely in the 40th minute, but Timov’s shot was once again saved by Devlin. Northern Ireland could have doubled the lead before half-time when Billy Kee was one-on-one with Stole Dimitrievski but his lob went just wide of the goal.
Right at the start of the second half, Stefan Spirovski showed good skill with his dribbling which caused an opposing player to foul him from a dangerous position. Spirovski took that resulting free kick and sent a low effort to the bottom right corner which went past the outstretched arms of Devlin. Northern Ireland could have taken the lead once again when two players tried shots from distance but the first one was saved by Dimitrievski while the other effort went over the goal. In the 72nd minute, David Babunski played an excellent through ball to Filip Timov who who calmly converted the chance into a goal for a 1:2 lead. Towards the end, Aleksandar Stankov put the game away to set the final score of 1:3.
(highlights of the match, courtesy of students from South Eastern Regional College, Lisburn for the IFA)
The Oval, Belfast
Northern Ireland U21: Devlin, Magennis, McKeown, Clucas, Thompson, C. McLaughlin, Winchester, Mitchell (60′ Lund), Kee (68′ Gray), P. McLaughlin (78′ Ball), McAlinden
Macedonia U21: Dimitrievski, Ristevski, Bogdanovic, An. Stankov, Fazli, Babunski (75′ Tairi), Randjelovic (78′ Micevski), Timov (75′ Cikarski), Al. Stankov, Najdovski, Sprivoski
Goalscorers: Magennis 10′ – Spirovski 48′, Timov 72′, Al. Stankov 90+2′
Yellow cards: McLaughlin, Lund – Dimitrievski, Cikarski, Al. Stankov
Red card: McLaughlin 90′
Macedonia is currently in third place on the table with 12 points. There is one round remaining with Macedonia visiting Serbia while Denmark hosts Northern Ireland. There are several scenarios that would lead to a top two finish for Macedonia but all of them include three points in the Serbia match.
Scenario 1:
Macedonia wins against Serbia
Denmark fails to win against Northern Ireland
Macedonia qualifies to the play-offs for EURO 2013 as the first place team.
Scenario 2:
Macedonia wins against Serbia with at least a 3 goal margin
Denmark wins against Northern Ireland
Macedonia qualifies to the play-offs for EURO 2013 as one of the four best placed second teams.
There are other possibilities for Macedonia to advance as well, for example: Macedonia to win against Serbia, Denmark to win against Northern Ireland and Poland to win against Portugal in one of the other groups. However, Macedonia first needs to win against Serbia and then worry about the other results.