Northern Ireland couldn’t keep hold of their early lead as they lost 3-1 to Scotland in Group 3 of the UEFA Under 21 Championship Qualifying at Saint Mirren Park.
Accrington Stanley forward Shay McCarten opened the socring after 13 minutes as his free kick beat Scotland keeper Jack Hamilton.
It was then the turn of Northern Ireland keeper Conor Brennan as captain Liam Donnelly gave away a penalty. Jason Cummings stepped up but Brennan was the hero as he saved the spotkick to keep it 1-0 at half time.
After 58 minutes, Scotland were level as Oliver McBurnie, who had come on only 5 minutes before, netted the equaliser. Just six minutes later and Scotland were ahead as Cummings made up for his penalty miss to give Scotland the lead.
And Cummings doubled his tally for the evening after 78 minutes and increased the gap to two as he gave Scotland a 3-1 lead with just 12 minutes to go.
The Under 21’s next game sees them welcome Iceland on the 2nd of September.
