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NO WAY BACK AFTER EARLY SCOTS BLITZ

THREE goals inside the opening 20 minutes won this UEFA Under-17 Elite Round Group Five game for Scotland at The Oval.

Scotland started the game brightly took the lead in the fifth minutes through Rangers forward John Fleck who worked his way into the box and rounded the keeper Conor Devlin in the Northern Ireland goal who then pulled Fleck down to concede a penalty and pick up a yellow card for himself. Fleck stepped up to send Devlin the wrong way and make it 1-0 Scotland.

Then on 9 minutes a free-kick was played into the Northern Ireland box which found Motherwell found McHugh unmarked who after having his initial shot saved by Devlin scored the follow-up which doubled the Scots lead.

The tartan-army where not finished yet as they continued to press for a third and on 18 minutes the impressive Fleck hit a sweet volley into the roof of the net from 20 yards, 3-0 Scotland.

With Northern Ireland now chasing the game they found it hard to keep possession and break down a solid Scottish defence and it wasn't until the half-hour mark before they created their first chance on goal, when good work from Michael McCrudden powering through the midfield linked up well with Patrick McLaughlin in a neat one-two inside box before firing over from a tight angle.

Northern Ireland were much improved in the second half as they looked for a way back into the game, Jordan Hughes replaced Scott Davidson on 53 minutes and almost immediately after he played a good ball in from the left which resulted in a corner-kick.

Michael McCrudden then had a good chance to score with a header as he found himself unmarked in the box after a great cross from the right, however, he failed to direct it towards goal and the danger was cleared.

The hosts got their way back into the game on 74 minutes when A Scotland clearance hit the keeper Grant Adam and bounced behind him leaving substitute Chris Curran on his own in the box and he simply chested the ball into an empty net to make it 3-1. Northern Ireland searched for another goal but the Scotland defence stood strong and it finished 3-1 to the Scots who now play Wales on Wednesday whilst Northern Ireland take on Slovenia both games at Newry Showgrounds.

TEAMS:
N.IRELAND: C.DEVLIN; A.MCALWEE (A.MITCHELL 60), L.BGNALL, C.MCLAUGHLIN, D.MCNULTY; P.MCLAUGHLIN(C), M.MCCRUDDEN, S.DAVIDSON (J.HUGHES 53), D.BUNTING; D.KEARNS, S.FERGUSON (C.CURRAN 66).

SCOTLAND: G.ADAM; S.FORBES, M. DELAND, S.DURIE, L.COPER; J.NESS, G.SMITH, D.THOMSON, A.CAMPBELL; J.FLECK, R.MCHUGH.