Scotland shared the honours with a skilful Northern Ireland side in this triangular under-21 international at Ray MacSharry Park, Sligo, yesterday. The Republic of Ireland, 3-0 winners over Scotland on Monday, will win the tournament if they beat Northern Ireland on Friday.
First half goals by St Johnstone's Stuart McCluskey and Philip Mulryan for Northern Ireland produced a fair result in a game that contained many passages of attractive football but never reached great heights. Scotland swept into attack from the kick-off and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Roy Carroll did well to parry a stinging cross shot by Barry Elliott.
A speculative Sean Friars effort at the other end in the 15th minute didn't trouble Stephen Robertson in the Scottish goal and Damien Johnson fluffed another chance for Northern Ireland three minutes later when he shot wide.
The Northern Ireland goalkeeper showed his mettle with a tremendous save to deny David Graham after 21 minutes.
Scotland broke the deadlock midway through the half when McCluskey drilled the ball past Roy Carroll in a crowded goal-mouth from Ian Anderson's well directed corner kick. Geoff Whitley had a blasting effort cleared by the vigilant Scots defence in the 26th minute, but there was nothing they could do about Philip Mulryan's equaliser after 29 minutes. The Manchester United midfielder connected perfectly with the ball to head past Stephen Roberts. Scoring chances were few and far between in the second half with the best chance of the half falling to Scotland six minutes before the finish when David Graham's glancing, close-range header was held by the Northern Ireland goalkeeper.
Northern Ireland: R Carroll, G Lyttle, B McGlinchey, L Burns, D Waterman, P Mulryan, D Johnson, G Whitley, N Coote, D Fitzgerald, S Friars. Subs: D Griffin for Lyttle (half-time), P McVeigh for Fitzgerald (64 mins), W Boyle for Waterman (74 mins).
Scotland: S Robertson, C McEwan, J Lauchlan, S McCluskey, A Archibald, C Easton, I Anderson, L McCulloch, D Graham, B Ferguson, B Elliott. Subs: S Campbell for McCulloch, JP McBride for Anderson. Referee: G Perry (Dublin).
