Northern Ireland's players put the Neil Lennon affair behind them to come out of their friendly international against Cyprus with a creditable 0-0 draw.

Lennon, who was due to captain his country at Windsor Park, was withdrawn from the match just hours before kick-off on police advice after receiving a death threat from a paramilitary organisation.

The midfielder, who plays for predominantly Catholic club Celtic, was already heading back to Glasgow when his team mates took the field in Belfast.

Despite the home fans' efforts to lift the players, there was a low-key atmosphere around the ground.

Home striker James Quinn had an early chance for the Irish on seven minutes when he collected a bad clearance from the goalkeeper, but Nikos Panayiotou made amends by tipping Quinn's shot over the bar.

Mark Williams thought he had marked his first appearance as captain in perfect fashion when he had the ball in the net after 20 minutes from Peter Kennedy's right-wing free-kick, but the referee's whistle had blown before he made any contact with the ball.

The best chances of the game then fell to Damien Johnson in the 68th minute. He first shot with his right foot only for the keeper to save and his left foot effort from the rebound was too weak.

Cyprus could have stolen a win eight minutes from time when Costas Kaiafas broke free but finished weakly.

Northern Irish coach Sammy McIlroy sang the praises of his players for the way they dealt with a difficult situation but was unhappy with the visitors' muscular approach.

'I had a good chat with the players beforehand and everything was put in perspective,' said McIlroy.

'They went out and gave me all they had and I can only give them credit for that.

'We did everything but score and I am pleased with the performance.

'We were the only team that tried to play any football, they just wanted to injure our players and we have Keith Gillespie, James Quinn and David Healy kicked black and blue.'