Northern Ireland were held to a goalless draw by Georgia in the Nations League, a result that left irritation written across the faces of the players, the supporters and manager Michael O’Neill. The hosts had the chance to win it from the spot, but Isaac Price’s second-half penalty was saved low to his right by Giorgi Mamardashvili, and the visitors held firm through the closing stages.
The context makes the dropped points sting rather than alarm. O’Neill’s youthful side emerge from the window unbeaten and top of their group, having beaten Ukraine 3-0 on Friday, won away in Georgia and drawn with Hungary. They had not conceded a goal in the section, and they did so again here without the long-term absentee Conor Bradley. Northern Ireland’s oldest starter against Georgia was the 28-year-old Ciaron Brown, partnered in a three-man back line by defenders aged 20 and 21.
What football there was in the first half came from the hosts. Ruairi McConville, one of those young centre-backs, came closest to opening the scoring with a header from Justin Devenny’s cross, with Mamardashvili unconvincing in keeping it out. Georgia responded through Zuriko Davitashvili, whose effort required an excellent save from Pierce Charles. Four minutes before the interval Patrick Kelly, sent clear by Trai Hume’s through ball, could not decide whether to shoot or pass and the chance went. The half ended with Price curling a free-kick into the wrong side of the Georgian side-netting, summing up 45 minutes of promise without a punch.
Price, born in Yorkshire, illustrates Northern Ireland’s diligence in sourcing players eligible through bloodline, as do the Manchester-born Charles brothers — Shea, the captain, again classy in midfield, and Pierce in goal. This is not a team assembled from afar: Ethan Galbraith was once a boy wonder in Belfast before being coaxed to Manchester United as a teenager, and his imaginative playmaking is beginning to look worthy of a grander stage than Stoke and the Championship.
Georgia, ranked outside the world’s top 70 yet containing one of the finest players in the game, offered little going forward for long spells. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s first act was to pass the ball straight to Galbraith, and he later gifted possession to Jamie Donley. The Paris Saint-Germain forward was strangely subdued for 79 minutes before striding forward from midfield and cracking a 20-yard drive just over the crossbar — a goal it would have been had it been a touch lower. In between, Galbraith limped off with 25 minutes to play in an obvious blow to O’Neill, and Pierce Charles had to collect a deflected shot from the substitute Giorgi Tsitaishvili.
With fatigue apparent across the pitch, O’Neill turned to 36-year-old Josh Magennis, who plays his club football at Stevenage and was winning his 93rd cap. Magennis was handed a golden chance but Mamardashvili saved it, and from the subsequent corner came the decisive moment: the crossbar was struck and the video assistant referee’s attention was drawn to a kick in the face of McConville by Budu Zivzivadze. A penalty was correctly awarded, only for Price to be denied by Mamardashvili. Shea Charles then curled wide, and Georgia, themselves weary, stood firm to take a point.