Northern Ireland's ‘togetherness' helped us see off Iceland, hails Crystal Palace star
Leading by Isaac Price's first half goal, the Windsor Park friendly took a more challenging turn for the home side when Brodie Spencer was sent off in the 57th minute.
Michael O'Neill's young guns had a fight on their hands to maintain their excellent recent home record, but battle they did to secure a morale boosting triumph in their last match before September's World Cup qualifiers in Luxembourg and Germany – with Devenny insisting the Green and White Army played an important role.
'As soon as Brodie went off it was like we got our 11th man with the crowd. I thought they were amazing,' said the FA Cup winner.
'You can look at it however you want, but it was a friendly game and it sold out and that speaks volumes about the atmosphere and the crowd.
'On the pitch I thought everyone dug deep for each other. We showed that togetherness as a squad. We went down to 10 men but it didn't stop us working hard and doing the basics right.
'I think good teams win when they're up against it or when they've got a man sent off. We stuck together, which I think is key to this group. Everyone's there for each other and going above and beyond for each other. It's great to have that within a squad and I think that's what brings us up to that next level.
'On the park everyone's there talking to each other, making sure everyone's doing their jobs. That starts from Pierce (Charles) in goal all the way up to the striker. Everyone's good at that.
'It might not have been the prettiest game, but we got the result which we wanted. We'll look to improve the quality in the next one.
'The win gives us momentum going into the big games. We've got the qualifiers coming up and we're all focused on that now.
'You want to play at as high a level as possible. It's almost like you want to play in the Premier League and then you play in the Premier League and it's like, 'What's the next step?' It's just kind of always looking up. You could say the same for the World Cup. Again, it's what you dream of as a kid so yeah, I'm looking forward to it.'
Quizzed on Spencer's emotions after his red card, Devenny said: 'He's just got to pick his head up. I think for him it'll probably be a bit of a learning experience. He's a good lad and he'll work hard.'
On starting the last two internationals in an unfamiliar left wing back type role, Devenny added: 'It's probably not what I'm used to but I've enjoyed the two games that I've played there. I thought I did okay.
"Maybe it wasn't my best game against Iceland but I think it's good balance for the team because Brodie had been playing there before on the right foot and just having a left foot there, I think that's what Michael wanted for the balance of the team and just being able to then open up on the left.'
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