Northern Ireland left it till late to beat Malta 2-1 in the final match from Group 4 of the UEFA Under-17 Championship qualifying round at the Centenary Stadium on Tuesday.
Malta, therefore, finished bottom of the table without any points after losing the three matches.
Thomas Mellillo had put Malta ahead on the 40th minute but Calum Moreland equalised twelve minutes from time and with three minutes to go, Ryan Donnelly notched the winner.
Czechia won the group after defeating Scotland 5-1 in another match on Tuesday.
Photo: Copyright www.stephengatt.com
MALTA Niklas Vella, Shaun Carabott (79′ Kewell Fardell), Nic Briffa (84′ Lucas Okeke), Sheldon Borg, Kean Scicluna, Jake Azzopardi, Thomas Melillo (79′ Antiago de Flavia), Keyon Ewurum, Shelom Magri (46′ Lydon Seychell), Nicholas Agius (60′ Bradley Farrugia), Jerome Baldacchino.
N. IRELAND Lorcan Donnelly, Bobby Harvey, Jack Hamilton, Adhamh Patton, Calum Moreland, Ryan Donnelly, Sam Anderson, James Douglas (46′ Jack Doherty), Ciaran O’Hara (69′ Ben Mcgonigle), Francis Turley, Rhys Walsh (46′ Oscar Kelly).
Referee: Visar Kastrati KOS
Assistant referees: Edmond Zeqiri KOS, Konstantinos Nikolaidis GRE
Fourth official: Evangelos Manouchos GRE
