Northern Ireland settle for draw

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However South Africa remains a possibility with two games remaining, the next one against Slovakia on Wednesday at Windsor Park.

Poland knew they had to get a victory to keep their hopes alive and looked riddled with self-doubt in the first 45 minutes.

Steven Davis released his Ibrox team-mate Lafferty in the 17th minute. Lafferty showed a good turn of pace and homed in on goal, only to drag his effort narrowly wide. It was a half chance and Lafferty turned away in frustration after failing to test Boruc.

Poland were struggling to get going but Rafal Murawski made space in the area after 29 minutes, only to find himself crowded out.

Lafferty made the breakthrough in the 37th minute with his seventh goal for Northern Ireland. Johnson began the move by finding Healy and he coolly stroked the ball into the path of Lafferty. He showed composure to drill a low shot under Boruc to give the province a start they could only have dreamed about.

The home side drew level in the 80th minute when Lewandowski made space in the penalty to clip a shot beyond Maik Taylor.

It was a difficult spell for Northern Ireland but they held out for a point they would have taken before the game.