Narrow defeat leaves Under-17 side empty-handed

A goal by Ben Wilson five minutes in the second half gave Northern Ireland a narrow win over the Malta Under-17 side in the final match from Group 1 of the UEFA Under-17 Championship qualifiers at the Centenary Stadium on Wednesday.

Malta therefore ended its commitments at the bottom of the group without any points after losing to Belgium 1-3 and Switzerland 0-1 in the previous matches.

Belgium emerged as group winners after defeating Switzerland 2-0 in a decisive clash at the National Stadium.

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MALTA Amara Sylla, Liam Mckay, Andreas Vella, Matthew Portelli, Christian Gauci, Bradley Sciberras (50′ Jamie Sixsmith), Clyde Bouvet (56′ Ryan Tonna), Shaun Dimech, Alexander Satariano, Carlo Zammit Lonardelli, Paul Mbong (70′ Jake Ghio).

N. IRELAND Scott Pengelly, Dean Corrigan, Sam Mcclelland, Jack Scott, Connor Farrelly, Callum Ferris, Michael Glynn, Ben Wilson, Brandon Bermingham, Ben Wylie, Christopher Mckee (69′ Christopher Conn).

Referee: Omar Pashayev (AZE)