Cyprus boss Pambos Christodoulou saw his side hold Northern Ireland to a 0-0 draw at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia in what was his first game in charge since taking over from Nicos Nioplias.
The two countries had met three times before with Cyprus having recorded a famous 1974 World Cup qualifying victory against a Northern Ireland side featuring Pat Rice and Pat Jennings in February 1973 at the old GSP Stadium.
The only goal of the match was scored by Georgios Antoniou two minutes from time. Two weeks earlier, the Northern Irish had won 3-0 in Belfast.
The last meeting between the two sides was a 0-0 draw friendly in Belfast back in 2002.
Coach Christodoulou, who wanted to take a look at the younger players, raised a few eyebrows with his squad selection particularly after leaving out centre-back Paraskevas Christou and AEK Larnaca left winger Koullis Pavlou.
Christou has had an impressive season so far in Romania with CS Pandurii where he has scored two times in 16 appearances for his side while Pavlou has been one of the star players for AEK this season.
Young APOEL striker Pieros Sotiriou, who had been a regular starter towards the end of former coach Nicos Nioplias’ reign without ever having made an impact for Cyprus, had also been left out although he is also injured.
Veteran defensive-midfielder Sinisa Dobrasinovic, who has impressed this season with Nea Salamina despite being 37, also did not receive a calling.
Cyprus will compete in qualifying Group 2 for Euro 2016 alongside Bosnia, Belgium, Wales, Israel and Andorra.

Cyprus Weekly