Oxtoby Hails “Gem” Lauren Wade Following Northern Ireland’s Play-off Win

Northern Ireland’s manager, Tanya Oxtoby, lauded Lauren Wade as a “gem” following her decisive goal that secured victory against Croatia in the Euro 2025 play-off second leg at Windsor Park, concluding what had been a challenging evening for the team. Wade scored with seven minutes remaining in extra time, resulting in a 2-1 aggregate win for Northern Ireland, which advances them to the second-round play-off. In this next stage, they are scheduled to compete against Norway, a team that has won the championship twice. Oxtoby expressed satisfaction with Wade’s performance and her comprehensive involvement across the entire qualification campaign. “Waders did a job for us all night, her versatility is what we are all about, she is definitely a gem,” Oxtoby stated. She added, “When you look at the highlight reels across the campaign, she pops up in everything good we do so that goal was a credit to her.” Wade commenced the match as a left-back, subsequently transitioning to a more forward left-wing position later in the game. This tactical adjustment, orchestrated by Oxtoby, proved successful. “We dropped her a bit deeper to give us something from the deeper spaces, with the view that she was going to go forward at the end of the game when they were tiring a bit to give us that bit of quality and balance,” Oxtoby elaborated. She concluded, “What a goal, I’m really happy for her.” Oxtoby, an Australian, acknowledged that Northern Ireland had conducted penalty practice the previous day and were “prepared” for a shootout. She admitted that her primary emotion upon the goal being scored was relief. “I felt like it was coming, and I’m really pleased with that reward for the effort,” she further stated. “We had to dig in when the momentum wasn’t with us and make changes to be able to grind out the result and I’m glad the players have a moment to enjoy.” Northern Ireland’s focus now shifts to preparing for the challenging second-round play-off scheduled for November against Norway. Norway previously defeated Albania with an aggregate score of 14-0 in the first round. “It’s a great challenge for this young group, one we won’t shy away from, and we said all along, if we want to get to a Euros we have to beat the best teams,” she remarked. “The prep has already started, it started before this window, with such a short turnaround, we had to make sure we’re ready to go,” Oxtoby further commented. She concluded by saying, “We’ll enjoy tonight, and the rest of the week and we get going next week.”