Northern Ireland v England: Lionesses beat NI in front of record crowd
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Hemp & Stanway score twice as England beat Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's dreams of reaching the 2023 Women's World Cup are over after a 5-0 defeat by England at a sell-out Windsor Park.
Lauren Hemp 26th-minute goal opened the scoring for the Lionesses, who are all but assured qualification with victory.
Ella Toone and Hemp added second-half goals before Georgia Stanway's double rounded out the win.
The game took place in front of a crowd of 15,348 at Windsor Park - a record for a women's match in the country.
Austria's 8-0 victory over Latvia means that, although Kenny Shiels' side mathematically could finish level on points in the race for second place, the Austrians' superior head-to-head record means Northern Ireland cannot reach the play-offs for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand next summer.
"The one concern we have is that the girls don't believe they can beat the likes of England," said Shiels. "That's hard. You want them to be confident.
"It's good to play England because we learnt more from their methods. It's quite simple how they play.
"Their game plan is pretty similar to ours but they just have better players."
Sarina Wiegman's England side are five points clear of Austria and will qualify with a point in the penultimate qualifier between the sides in September.
England unfazed by vocal NI support
The crowd, which far surpassed the previous record of 4,079, delivered with the pre-match atmosphere despite a downpour before kick-off which made slick passing difficult for both teams.
As expected, the Lionesses mastered the conditions first and could have been two goals up inside 10 minutes. Stanway whipped in a powerful cross from the right and Ellen White failed to guide her header on target when many expected the net to bulge.
Then, two minutes later, the impressive Sarah McFadden produced a superb block to deny Beth Mead after Hemp raced into the area, and Northern Ireland were lucky to survive when the lively Toone fired a snapshot wide from the edge of the area.
Lucy Bronze then should have worked Jackie Burns from 10 yards while under pressure from Demi Vance but she fired wide.
Kenny Shiels handed 19-year-old Joely Andrews, left, a start after her goal off the bench against Austria.
White thought she had made the breakthrough on 21 minutes, which would have taken her two behind Wayne Rooney as England's record goalscorer, however she strayed offside when reacting quickest to Beth Mead's low drive, which was parried into the danger area by Burns.
The opener came five minutes later when Hemp silenced the vocal home support with a sliced finish that deceived Burns and floated into the top corner.
There was an element of fortune to the finish but it was no less than England deserved, and although Northern Ireland were able to venture into the visiting half they lacked the crucial pass or touch to unlock the visiting defence.
Hemp should have made it two before the break but her header was over from Bronze's back-post cross, and White again miscued from close range on the stroke of half-time.
England race clear after restart
Northern Ireland's hopes of springing a surprise comeback were all but dashed when Toone made it two on 52 minutes.
Bronze burst through two Northern Ireland challenges on the right and her low cross found its way to the Manchester United forward, who kept her cool to slot into the corner.
Lauren Wade forced Mary Earps into a low save from the edge of the area in a rare Northern Ireland attack to give the crowd another lift, but from there the first-half pattern resumed and England remained in control.
Hemp made it three with a composed finish on the hour-mark when she danced around Burns and tucked home when racing onto the returning Leah Williamson's deflected pass.
Manchester City midfielder Georgia Stanway, centre, netted twice to round out the win
Stanway made it four 10 minutes later with another finish from inside the area that left Burns with no chance.
However, the Northern Ireland stopper will be disappointed with Manchester City player's second, which rolled into the bottom corner following a header across goal as the hosts began to tire.
Hemp was denied her hat-trick after her tame effort was easily held by Burns, and defender Millie Bright, top scorer in the February's Arnold Clark Cup, fired over in injury-time as England left Belfast with a comfortable three points.
"I thought it was a mature performance from us," said Wiegman. "We dominated the game as well.
"As a team we created a lot of chances and it doesn't really matter who scores.
"If they block one player, another player steps up. That's what makes you unpredictable and that's what we want."
The focus for both sides will now turn to Euro 2022 in July. It will be a maiden international tournament for Northern Ireland, where Shiels side will face familiar foes Austria and hosts England after their Group A opener with Norway.
Hosts England open their campaign against Austria at Old Trafford on 6 July before taking on the Norwegians and NI in their final group games.
Shiels says Northern Ireland have to try and narrow gap on England