Northern Ireland 4-0 San Marino: Kyle Lafferty scores brace as Michael O'Neill's side crush minnows

A crowd of 18,234 witnessed Lafferty's goals and strikes from Steven Davis and Jamie Ward, as well as a San Marino red card

Substitute Kyle Lafferty scored twice as Northern Ireland recorded a 4-0 victory over minnows San Marino in the first international to be staged at the refurbished Windsor Park.

A crowd of 18,234 witnessed Lafferty's goals and strikes from Steven Davis and Jamie Ward, as well as a San Marino red card, as Michael O'Neill's side avoided any drama ahead of Tuesday's clash with Germany.

Davis' converted a first-half penalty after Josh Magennis had been hauled down by Alessandro Della Valle, before Lafferty and Ward enhanced the scoreline by scoring three times between them in the final 11 minutes.

Magennis' night came to an end in the 72nd minute as crowd favourite Lafferty arrived to try and find a second goal.

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Davis opens the scoring

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Lafferty makes it 2-0

There was certainly plenty of urgency against a side seemingly content with a narrow defeat and the lively Washington was twice denied by Simoncini.

McGinn missed the target and the San Marino goalkeeper again thwarted Davis, but the floodgates would eventually open in the late stages.

Seven minutes after coming on Lafferty scored his 18th international goal with the first chance that came his way, deftly flicking Ferguson's cross beyond Simoncini.

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Jamie Ward scores the third goal

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Lafferty celebrates his strike

The Norwich striker then turned creator, even if it was fortuitous, with his header from Ferguson's centre reaching Ward, who lashed home a third.

And Lafferty would grab another with the final kick of the game following a cheeky dink by Davis, giving O'Neill plenty of encouragement ahead of a meeting with the world champions, which will be a wholly different proposition.