Northern Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign got off to the start they needed in Belfast on Saturday thanks to the much-travelled Phil Gray's sixth goal for his country. But, as their manager Sammy McIlroy conceded, it was far from easy against Malta, the supposed whipping boys of Group Three.

Gray, now with Burnley, had been on the pitch for only nine minutes when he scored.

"We had to be patient, keep plugging away, although I admit that frustration started to creep in and supporters were becoming agitated," McIlroy said. "It was so difficult breaking down the Maltese defence with 10 players behind the ball for virtually 90 minutes. We have, however, got the start we wanted: three points."

This was the first Northern Ireland home win in 22 months. "If we can pick up maximum points at Windsor and nick a few away," McIlroy said, "then who knows what might happen."

Scotland had to wait until the 88 minute in the Latvian capital to secure the three points in their opening World Cup Group Six-qualifier when Neil McCann popped up to prod the ball home from five yards.

Indeed, Latvia played so much delightfully taut football that it was impossible not to feel sympathy for them at the finish.

Scotland took the field with precisely half their outfield consisting of strapping defenders - Tommy Boyd, Colin Hendry, Matt Elliott, Christian Dailly, David Weir, the list seemed endless.

Elliott, for one, was asked to turn out in his old Leicester pantomime act as a striker, offering glimpses of lumbering menace in an otherwise hopeless first half for the Scots.

Manager Craig Brown countered: "We can't afford to be too hard on ourselves. I've got limited resources in terms of players. An international manager just can't go into the transfer market and buy players."

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Wales left Belarus having won their first match under Mark Hughes and were even harbouring thoughts of making the European Championship play-offs.

But on Saturday, under leaden skies, a deep depression set in with the Welsh team in disarray and future plans were put in doubt as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat in which Craig Bellamy was sent off.

Hughes said: "Too many players underperformed . . . we cannot afford that. However, there is a lot of football to be played and countries will be taking points off each other."