Philip Mulryne headed home an equaliser in Copenhagen which earned the visitors a fairytale result in Hans Christian Andersen's home town and ended Northern Ireland's woeful run of six successive defeats and 12 months without a win.

Few gave Sammy McIlroy's team any chance against the Danes, who went into this Group Three qualifier undefeated in seven games and who had lost only one of their past 11, and that a 1-0 reverse in France last month.

The Irish rode their luck, however, most notably when Colin Murdock turned the ball against his own post and when Jim Magilton chopped down Jesper Gronkjaer in the box.

It had all looked so different when Northern Ireland conceded an early goal, Maik Taylor coming for Stig Tofting's throw-in only for Murdock, under no pressure, to head the ball across his area for Dennis Rommedahl to head into an unguarded net.

"When we gave that goal away I thought it was going to be one of those nights," McIlroy said. "The campaign has been riddled with mistakes like this, but the response from the goalkeeper and the back four was fantastic."

Denmark's Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen soon went off with a broken nose which will keep him out for a fortnight after a collision with Murdock, who later collected his second booking of the campaign for a foul on Ebbe Sand. The centre-half will now miss Wednesday's game with Iceland at Windsor Park, forcing McIlroy to dip into his Under-21s. The favourite for a call-up is George McCartney, the Sunderland defender who has trained with the seniors.

DENMARK: Sorensen (Kjaer, 11min); Heintze, Laursen, Henriksen, Helveg, Tofting, P Nielsen (Frandsen, 69), Tomasson (Nygaard, 78), Rommedahl, Gronkjaer, Sand. Booked: Rommedahl, Laursen. NORTHERN IRELAND: Taylor; Kennedy, Griffin, Murdock, A Hughes; Horlock, Magilton, Mulryne, M Hughes (Elliott, 71), Gillespie; Healy. Booked: Murdock, Gillespie.

Referee: R Wojcik (Pol).