Northern Ireland U15 made it two wins from two in their UEFA development tournament with a 1-0 win over Latvia on Wednesday evening.
The hosts had the better of the first half at Newry Showgrounds but, despite having enjoyed a lot of possession, they failed to create many clear-cut chances in the final third.
Six changes were made at the interval and Northern Ireland showed more attacking threat during the second session with Emmet Morrison, Luke Hawe and Coran Madden all coming close to breaking the deadlock.
Despite the home side’s dominance, it was Latvia who could have taken the lead with two big chances in the last 15 minutes. Goalkeeper Kyle Chivers was quick off his line to make a strong save before the visitors spurned a good opportunity on the counterattack late on.
Northern Ireland’s dominance finally paid off with five minutes remaining when sub Ryan Lagan met fellow sub Fintan McArdle’s cross to calmly finished from 10 yards out.
Next up for Northern Ireland is Luxembourg on Saturday (noon) at Newry Showgrounds.
Both teams have won both of their games going into the last round of fixtures.
Northern Ireland U15s: Kyle Chivers, Adam Dolan, Charlie Campbell, Jake Hirthe, Calum Anderson, Jack May, Freddie Murdock, Caleb Sweeney, Emmett, Morrison, Stephen Kelly, Eamonn Tohill.
Subs (used): Sean Cassidy, Luke Hawe, Coran Madden, Joel Kerr, Ross Campbell, Fintan McArdle, Ryan Lagan. Unused: Matthew Hayman (GK).
