The year of 2016 was a memorable one for Northern Ireland and Niall McGinn is hoping the next 12 months can be equally unforgettable. Adrian Sampson Rangers Jersey . Michael ONeills players returned to club duty on Wednesday and will next be back together under the Northern Irish banner in March for a World Cup Qualifier with Norway in Belfast. Northern Ireland were beaten 3-0 by Croatia in their international friendly on Tuesday evening Although they concluded the calendar year with a 3-0 defeat to Croatia, the preceding months brought success not seen for years by The Green and White Army, who followed their nation at a major tournament for the first time since 1986 at the Euros in the summer. There is no reason why we cant make it a great year too, McGinn said.I think the spirit in the squad is obviously high, the players are playing well and the momentum is still there.Weve always played well at Windsor Park over the years so we want to keep that going with an important game in March, hopefully we can get three points from that. Northern Ireland manager Michael ONeill has urged his squad to keep the feelgood factor going Last Fridays 4-0 home triumph over Azerbaijan lifted ONeills team into second but Norway, the Czech Republic and the Azeris themselves will have designs of finishing directly behind world champions Germany.The group is obviously tough and if we get to March and win that game it will definitely set ourselves up nicely, added McGinn, who was bestowed the honour of captain-for-the-night against the Croatians on his 50th international appearance. Captain Steven Davis has rejected claims theyre favourites to finish behind Germany in their World Cup qualifying group We just want to keep the momentum going - the most important thing was to win that game on Friday and weve done that.Weve played Germany and Czech Republic away so the most important thing is getting as many points as we can from these home games coming up.Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price! Also See: N Ireland latest N Ireland fixtures N Ireland stats Table Ronald Guzman Rangers Jersey . Vonn punctuated her near-perfect season in perfect fashion Friday, earning her fourth overall World Cup title with a dominating giant slalom victory. Lance Berkman Rangers Jersey . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/982h-johnny-oates-jersey-rangers.html . The teams were scoreless for most of the first two periods before Canada scored three times in a span of less than four minutes. Sarah Potomak opened the scoring on the power play.KITZBUEHEL, Austria -- Defending overall champion Marcel Hirscher posted the fastest time in the first run of a World Cup slalom in heavy snow Friday. The Austrian opened the race in 56.92 seconds. Felix Neureuther of Germany was 0.38 behind to become the only racer within a second of the lead. Luca Aerni of Switzerland, who started 27th, finished 1.36 behind in third, closely followed by Fritz Dopfer of Germany and Alexis Pinturault of France, who won the slalom in Wengen last week. "Visibilty was obviously bad," said Hirscher, who wiped his goggles immediately after crossing the finish line. Michael Janyk of Whistler, B.C., was the top Canadian in 17th place. Mario Matt of Austria skied out in the first run, which means Hirscher will remain in the lead of the slalom standings regardless the outcome of the second run. Hirscher is aiming to become the first slalom skier to win back-to-back crystal globes since Thomas Sykora in 1997 and 98. Its the final slalom before nations have to name their Alpine skiing teams for the Sochi Olympics. After days of mild weather, course workers salted the piste in order to harden up the surface, but the fresh snow made for difficult conditions. Furthermore, the unusual placing of some gates by Croatian coach Ante Kostelic made racing even hharder. Edinson Volquez Jersey. . "On such a tough course the field gets torn apart," Hirscher said. Kostelic, the father of former overall champions Ivica and Janica, has made a name for setting challenging courses. A year ago in Kitzbuehel, the jury rejected a course set by Kostelic, deeming it as "unskiable." The course wasnt that extraordinary this time, though Neureuther said it was "by far the most difficult slalom in Kitzbuehel I have ever done." "Visibility is brutal, the course setting is extreme, and the piste is bad," the German said. "Its extreme but we are the best ski racers so we have to adapt to these conditions. I managed that quite well in the first run. I think nobody feels really well today." Nolan Kasper of the United States lost a pole when he tried to clean his goggles during the final part of his run. He still completed the final gates and came 3.34 seconds behind in 25th place. "Its definitely tough, its one or two gates in a row that get a lot of splashback," Kasper said. "Its not the snow falling, its the snow from the gate. Thats why I tried to wipe my goggles and dropped my pole. I am probably not going to do that next run." The second run will be held under floodlights later Friday. ' ' '