Northern Ireland recorded a 4-0 Euro 2012 qualifying win over the Faroe Islands in Belfast on Wednesday night.
Aaron Hughes and Steven Davis were both on target for the hosts, before Paddy McCourt netted twice in the closing 20 minutes to lift Nigel Worthington’s men up to third place in Group C.
Hughes broke the deadlock after just five minutes, pouncing to score from close range after the visitors had failed to deal with a Sammy Clingan corner.
Brian Kerr’s side responded well, with Johan Simun Edmundsson and Christian Holst both threatening to level before the break.
However, Northern Ireland survived the scares and all but secured the points 20 minutes into the period through Davis, who struck home a fine effort from 25 yards after good work from Niall McGinn.
McCourt then displayed the full extent of his substantial talent to put a gloss on the victory. The Celtic man started and finished a classy move in style to make it 3-0, before chipping a superb effort over Faroes keeper Jakup Mikkelsen to complete the scoring.