Lawrie Sanchez watches the game played in freezing conditions

"In the first half, we stayed in the game. We changed things a little bit in the second half and I thought we were the better team," said Sanchez.

"You could see that the crowd were reasonably happy with it. All it lacked was a goal.

"We've got to make sure we put on a performance and we did that tonight."

The result extended Northern Ireland's unbeaten run to four games and came despite the absence of regulars David Healy, Chris Baird and Damien Johnson.

"Now whoever comes in we look a reasonable side," added Sanchez.

"I like playing people who don't normally play. We can change the players around and still get results. Nobody can rest on their laurels.

"We played some really nice football and created chances.

The way the defence performed is a big plus for us Wales manager John Toshack

"Chris Brunt has three efforts that went past the post and (Grant) McCann hit the bar. We created opportunities and that is the main thing."