Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington described as "superb" his team's performance in the 1-0 Euro 2012 qualifier win over Slovenia in Maribor.

He said: "I thought we played fantastic in the first half. We had a game-plan, stuck to it and caused them problems.

"We started the second half slowly but defended well. We knew Slovenia would throw the kitchen sink at us but we got our blocks in, it was fantastic.

"The players deserve all the credit because they worked hard all week."

Corry Evans scored the only goal on his competitive debut while Craig Cathcart, making his senior debut, supplied the cross from which the Manchester United midfielder netted.

606: DEBATE Well done Corry Evans. Well done Norn Iron - bring on Italy at Windsor yerman82

"I'm delighted with Craig Cathcart, he did a good solid job, stuck to it - great credit to him," added Worthington.

"I have no fears about Corry, I've worked with him for three years. He showed what he can do and not just with his goal, while young Jonny Gorman came on and showed maturity as well.

"It gives us a nice start to the campaign and now we'll look forward to meeting up for the Italy game at Windsor Park next month."

Evans was pleased to answer Northern Ireland's critics with the winning goal as they started their quest to qualify for Euro 2012 finals.

"I haven't scored for Northern Ireland since I was a schoolboy, so to get on the scoresheet in such an important match is fantastic," said the 20-year-old.

"We've had our criticism over our away from and for not being able to score goals, so to win away with a clean sheet is great."

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