The Republic of Ireland's hopes of winning the inaugural under-21 triangular tournament were dashed before a crowd of 4,000 at Milebush Park, Castlebar, last night.
A draw would have been sufficient to give the Irish outright victory in the tournament - but they paid a heavy price for being without six of the players who played a part in the 3-0 defeat of Scotland in the opening round of the series.
Missing were David Connolly, Ian Harte, Colin Hawkins, Darryl Clare and Derek O'Connor and Michael Cummins.
A 53rd minute goal by Norwich City striker Adrian Coote gave Northern Ireland a memorable victory.
He caught the Republic's rearguard cold when he cut inside from the left wing to drill the ball past goalkeeper Dean Doherty.
Although the home team upped the tempo of their game, they lacked sufficient ideas and penetration to snatch the equaliser they needed.
Neil Fenn looked dangerous every time he got the ball; but the supply line to him was extremely sparing. The Republic thought they had a penalty in the closing stages when substitute Alan Mahon was brought crashing to his knees in the 18-yard box; but referee John McDermott waved on play.
Pat Quigley, president of the FAI, presented the President's Cup to Philip Mulryan, captain of the victorious Northern Ireland team.
Republic Of Ireland: D Doherty (Everton), A Maybury (Leeds United), B Ryan (Millwall), S Baker (Middlesbrough), D Boxall (Crystal Palace), B Barry Murphy (Cork City), N Inman (Peterborough), J Burns (Nottm Forest), S Grant (Stockport), N Fenn (Tottenham), K Kilbane (West Brom). Subs: A Mahon (Tranmere) for Grant, T Morgan (St Patrick's Athletic) for Boxall, A Murphy (Drogheda Utd.) for Maybury.
Northern Ireland: R Carroll (Wigan Athletic), D Griffin (St Johnstone), B McGlinchey (Manchester City), L Burns (Port Vale), D Waterman (Portsmouth), P Mulryan (Manchester Utd), D Johnson (Blackburn Rovers), G Whitley (Manchester City), A Coote (Norwich City), P McVeigh (Tottenham), S Fri- ars (Liverpool). Sub: L Feeney (Linfield) for McVeigh.
Referee: J McDermott (Dublin).
Kevin Keegan confirmed last night that he will be carrying on as Ray Wilkins's successor at Fulham. Keegan took charge of the first team when Wilkins was sacked as manager just before Fulham's Second Division play-off semi-final against Grimsby. Fulham missed out on promotion, going down 2-1 on aggregate.
Keegan, who quit as Newcastle boss in January 1997, said: "I want my destiny in my own hands now."
