Northern Ireland have claimed so many scalps at Windsor Park in recent years that there was an anticlimactic air to their failure to add the Czech Republic to that list in treacherous conditions last night. England, Spain, Sweden and Denmark have suffered at the hands of Northern Ireland, but a hard-fought goalless draw last night was a creditable result and one that got their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track after the 2-1 defeat away to Slovakia on Saturday.

Nigel Worthington’s team were more than a match for a side ranked No 8 in the world and could count themselves unfortunate not to have claimed all three points. Keith Gillespie had a volley cleared off the line in the first half and Warren Feeney squandered a glorious chance when he was denied by Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper, but Worthington professed himself pleased.

“We are in a tough group, but if we perform like this on a regular basis, home and away, we will pick up points,” the Northern Ireland manager said. “Whether that will be good enough to qualify, who knows? It was a super performance. The players got back on their feet tonight and relished the challenge after Saturday.”

Wednesday nights at Windsor Park normally guarantee drama and dreadful weather. Unfortunately, there was too much of one and not the other, the lashing wind and rain spoiling the match as a spectacle. Still, Northern Ireland were more comfortable playing 4-4-2, as opposed to the 4-5-1 system used on Saturday.

Jonny Evans was imperious in defence, Gillespie had early success down the right flank at the expense of Marek Jankulovski, the AC Milan left back, while Sammy Clingan impressed in central midfield before he was substituted at half-time with a shoulder injury. With Steven Davis a late withdrawal from the squad for personal reasons, an unfamiliar midfield finished the match.

The best chances fell to the home team. Gillespie had a rasping volley cleared off the line by David Rozehnal, the former Newcastle United defender, after 33 minutes, but Feeney should have done better when sent through after the restart. A cool head deserted him in front of Cech and Chris Brunt fluffed the rebound.

Northern Ireland (4-4-2): M Taylor - A Hughes, S Craigan, J Evans, G McCartney - K Gillespie (sub: D Shiels, 85min), C Baird, S Clingan (sub: M O'Connor, 46), C Brunt - W Feeney (sub: M Paterson, 73), D Healy. Substitutes not used: A Mannus, G McAuley, R McGivern, P Thompson.

Czech Republic (4-1-4-1): P Cech - Z Grygera, T Ujfalusi, D Rozehnal, M Jankulovski - R Kovac - L Sionko (sub: Z Pospech, 68), J Polak, J Plasil, R Sirl - M Baros. Substitutes not used: J Drobny, M Kadlec, D Jarolim, J Rajnoch, M Fenin, M Slepicka. Booked: Ujfalusi.

Referee: I Bebek (Croatia).