Don Givens saw his Republic of Ireland Under-21 side collapse after a bristling fightback by Portugal, who won 3-1 at Marinha Grande last night.

Sunderland's Michael Reddy had grabbed the lead in stoppage time at the end of the first period after Ireland had held their own in the opening 45 minutes, and it seemed possible that they might register only the second win in seven games since Givens took over as manager. But Portugal upped the tempo after the interval.

Reddy, who almost scored on two occasions earlier in the first half, put away a simple tap-in after Gary Doherty's flick-on opened up Portugal's defence.

All changed after the break, though. Miguel struck the post within two minutes of the restart and midfielder Ednilson sent a thundering effort inches over the bar.

But the Republic appeared to have ridden the storm before Doherty missed a glaring opportunity, firing way over the top, after being set up by Alan Quinn.

It was to prove the turning point. Portugal redoubled their attacking resolve and the inevitable equaliser came in the 64th minute when Candido Costa scored with an unstoppable drive from Hugo Leal's pass.

Eight minutes later, Ednilson scored with a 30-yard free-kick, and Miguel wrapped it up nine minutes from time after a catastrophe in the Irish defence when Delaney raced out to try to deal with a through ball by substitute Semedo but collided with centre-back John O'Shea, allowing Miguel all the time he needed to score.

The third goal was described as "a farce" by Givens, who attributed the loss to individual errors. He said: "Portugal were a better side in the second half but that was because we kept giving them the ball back."