Scotland seal Northern Ireland win with late strike

A late header by substitute Christophe Berra gave Scotland a narrow but deserved 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in their Vauxhall International Challenge match at Hampden Park.

Christophe Berra heads the ball home to open the scoring late on for Scotland. Picture: SNS

In the 69th minute Ritchie tried his luck from 30 yards but his drive sped wide.

Minutes later McGovern made another save, albeit Naismith’s powerful header from a Ritchie corner came straight at him.

The Irish rallied in the final stages but with five minutes remaining Berra headed in from a Ritchie corner to give the Scots a morale-boosting win.

Picture: SNS

Visiting keeper Michael McGovern made several saves in the first half to keep an enterprising home side at bay, most notably from Steven Fletcher and Ikechi Anya.

The home side also had the best of a second half which was punctuated with substitutions but it was not until the 85th minute that the Ipswich defender, on for Russell Martin, headed in a corner from debutant Matt Ritchie.

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