Northern Ireland Under 21s slipped to a 2-0 defeat against Czech Republic on Friday night.
Czech Republic clinch 2-0 home win
Northern Ireland Under 21s slipped to a 2-0 defeat against their Czech Republic counterparts on Friday night.
Steve Beaglehole's youngsters had been looking to make an encouraging start to their 2011 European Championship qualifying campaign.
Having gone into the game as massive underdogs, they would have been pleased to get to half-time with the score still goalless against such formidable opponents.
Northern Ireland then had the chance to go ahead in the 50th minute at Stadion
Strelnice when they were awarded a penalty, but Everton defender Shane Duffy could not convert the spot-kick.
The stalemate continued until deep into the second period before Marcel Gecov finally opened the scoring for the hosts after 72 minutes.
Borek Dockal then added a second seven minutes from time to kill off any hopes of a fightback.
The result maintained Czech Republic's 100 per cent winning record in Group 5 following victories over San Marino and Iceland.
Northern Ireland continue their campaign against Iceland in Coleraine on Tuesday.
