SAINTS midfielder Steve Davis was man of the match as he captained Northern Ireland to an important draw against UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying group leaders Romania.

Davis’s industrious shift in a goalless stalemate helped keep his side second in Group F and just a point behind their opponents.

But he admitted it could easily have been all three after Kyle Lafferty failed to take game's best opportunity seven minutes from time, firing straight at goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu.

“There’s definitely a sense of disappointment,” he said. “I think in the second half we had all of the momentum but we couldn’t quite find that quality in the final third.

“Maybe it’s a little bit of an opportunity missed, but it’s still a good point.

“Overall it was a good performance from us, but it’s just disappointing that we couldn’t get that goal to give us three points.”

Northern Ireland’s next game is away to the Faroe Islands on September 4.

Shane Long was left on the bench for the Republic of Ireland’s vital clash with Scotland in Dublin, which finished 1-1.

The Saints forward came on for Ipswich’s Daryl Murphy in the 79th minute, after Steven Fletcher’s deflected effort just after the restart cancelled out Jon Walters’ opener.

Long, who scored an injury-time equaliser in Ireland’s previous game against Poland, was heavily involved as Martin O’Neill’s men pushed for a late winner.

But they could not find a way past Scotland, leaving their prospects of reaching next summer’s finals now looking slim Ireland are now fourth in Group D, five points off the top and three behind second-placed Scotland.

José Fonte also came on as 79th-minute substitute, for Portugal against Armenia in Yerevan.

Portugal led 3-2 thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick but had been reduced to ten men after Tiago Mendes’s second bookable offence, with Fonte replacing Ricardo Carvalho to help the visitors hold on for an important win.

That means they have a two-point lead at the top of Group I ahead over second-placed Denmark, who beat Filip Djuričić’s Serbia. Saints loanee Djuričić was a substitute in his country's 2-0 defeat.

Elsewhere, Sadio Mané scored Senegal’s third goal in a 3-1 win against Burundi in their first qualifying fixture for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Saints star was involved from the start at the Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor in Dakar as the Lions of Teranga kicked off their campaign for a place at the Gabon finals.

Moussa Konaté gave Senegal the lead with a penalty on the quarter-hour mark, but Fiston Abdul Razak hit a 59th –minute equaliser.

Stoke striker Mame Biram Diouf restored Senegal’s lead four minutes later, with Mané wrapping up the win in the first minute of injury time.