NI rewarded for patience against Bosnia-Herzegovina - Andrews

Andrews scored the opener as Northern Ireland beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 at Windsor Park

Northern Ireland midfielder Joely Andrews says her side reaped the rewards of staying patient in their 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

After a first half lacking quality, Andrews opened the scoring two minutes into the second period, finishing off a well worked move.

Substitute Lauren Wade then added a second as Tanya Oxtoby's side clinched second place in their Euro 2025 qualifying group.

"We've learnt from other games that when you haven't scored in the first half you can't get impatient," Andrews told BBC Sport NI.

"We needed a few tweaks but I think tonight we stayed patient and got our rewards for that."

NI go into play-offs with 'a lot of confidence'

Andrews' second international goal so soon after the restart was the catalyst for a dominant display from Northern Ireland in the second half.

And the midfielder, who recently signed for Hearts, was sure that she would score when she made that darting run into the box.

"As soon as Casey Howe got ahead of the defender I knew by the angle that if I could keep up with her as she is pretty quick, that she would square it and thankfully it hit the back of the net," Andrews explained.

"I'm delighted, coming into this camp we wanted to come away with six points and that is what we have done, and to score in front of the home fans it has been a really good night."

Andrews, at 22, is one of a number of young players who have impressed in this Euro qualifying campaign for Oxtoby's side and says it has been "enjoyable" to play in such a youthful team.

"We had a really young team but that brings with it skilful players, especially out wide we have a lot of pace and the girls are a joy to play with," she added.

Northern Ireland will now discover their opponent for the first round of the two-legged play-off tie in Friday's draw.

Andrews believes that NI can use their experience of previous play-offs to their advantage and she insists that they are ready for whoever they are paired with.

"We've been in play-offs before and whoever we get in the play-offs we will go into with a lot of confidence."