Northern Ireland Under-21s began their qualification campaign for U21 Euro 2027 with an excellent draw away to Georgia tonight.
A second half equaliser from full-back Matty Orr earned Tommy Wright’s side a deserved point at the Ramaz Shengelia Stadium in Kutaisi.
Wright gave debuts to Leicester City midfielder Ryan Donnelly and Dundalk striker Eoin Kenny.
Georgia are second seeds in Group F in the 2025-27 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying group stage, which also features Germany (top seeds), Greece, Latvia and Malta.
It was no real surprise therefore that the Georgians came flying out of the traps. Northern Ireland keeper Fraser Barnsley had to be quick off his line to gather in the ball as striker Diego Deisadze tried to get to a through ball.
Georgia attacker Irakli Egoyan then struck the crossbar with a superb deflected curling effort before the hosts took the lead on seven minutes.
The goal came when the resultant corner found defender Aleksandre Narimanidze whose low shot was turned goalwards by fellow defender Luka Latsabidze. Barnsley pushed his shot out but the assistant referee said Latsabidze’s effort had crossed the line before Shea Kearney tried to clear the ball as Georgia captain Gabriel Sigua pushed him in the back and it ended up in the net.
Kenny let fly from distance on 15 minutes, however his low shot was comfortably saved by Georgia keeper Mikheil Makatsaria.
Northern Ireland settled down well after that but struggled to break down the home defence.
In the 33rd minute Narimanidze had a shot from distance which failed to test Barnsley.
The game was pretty scrappy in the first half and the Northern Ireland players were on the receiving end of some rugged challenges. Saba Kharebashvili was shown a yellow for chopping down Paddy Kelly, while Giorgi Tabatadze went into the book for handling the ball as Kenny threatened.
The Northern Ireland defence also worked tirelessly to keep the hosts at bay, with captain Michael Forbes and fellow centre back Tom Atcheson particularly sharp. Full-backs Orr and Jonny Russell also worked their socks off.
On 53 minutes the visitors fashioned a good opportunity. Russell fired in a dangerous cross down the left flank which was met by Makenzie Kirk, although the forward could only guide his header wide of the target.
A Kenny shot from the edge of the area was deflected over the top before a firm Kirk header was superbly pushed away down low by Makatsaria.
Forbes headed the ball into the net from a corner, however the referee said the captain had impeded the keeper as he got on the end of Kelly’s delivery.
Forbes put another header wide before Northern Ireland deservedly equalised on 65 minutes. Substitute Liam McStravick whipped in a free-kick and the ball fell kindly for Orr who fired it home from five yards.
On 74 minutes Georgia made a triple substitution and it energised them. Shortly after Deisadze guided a header inches past the post.
Ceadach O’Neill came on in the 82nd minute to make his debut for the U21s and six minutes later he almost conjured up a goal. He jinked past his marker down the left flank and blasted the ball inches past the far post.
Down the other end Barnsley did well to push away a header from Sigua as the hosts went in search of a winner.
In added time O’Neill was at it again. He nipped in between a defender and the keeper and his lofted shot was cleared off the line by a Georgian defender.
It was backs to the wall for Wright’s side in the final few minutes, and right at the death Russell produced a great piece of defending to thwart a rapid Georgian attack.
Next up for the U21s in the qualifiers are home games against Malta and Germany - on 9 and 14 October respectively at The Oval.
Click the image below to watch the match in full on the Northern Ireland YouTube channel.
Georgia: Mikheil Makatsaria, Dato Bukia, Saba Kharebashvili, Aleksandre Narimanidze, Luka Latsabidze, Dachi Lordkipanidze, Luka Tsulukidze, Irakli Egoyan, Diego Deisadze, Gabriel Sigua (captain), Giorgi Tabatadze.
Substitutes: (used) Aleko Basiladze, Jorge Karseladze, Saba Gegiadze, Nikoloz Dadiani, David Gotsiridze; (unused) Saba Kajaia (GK), Giorgi Kharebava, Akaki Giunashvili, Gia Nadareishvili.
Northern Ireland: Fraser Barnsley, Matthew Orr, Jonny Russell, Darren Robinson, Michael Forbes (captain), Tom Atcheson, Shea Kearney, Patrick Kelly, Makenzie Kirk, Eoin Kenny, Ryan Donnelly.
Substitutes: (used) Liam McStravick, Ceadach O’Neill; (unused) Francis Hurl (GK), Jack Patterson, Bayley McCann, Braiden Graham, Francis Turley, Conor Barr, Sam Inwood.
Action from Georgia
