Northern Ireland battle to opening draw

Northern Ireland fought back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw with Iceland in the first round of matches in UEFA European Under-17 Championship Elite round Group 6 in Portugal.

Stirring fightback
The game seemed to have been tipped Iceland's way by two goals in two minutes from Kolbeinn Sigthorsson shortly before half-time, the striker producing a composed finish on each occasion to leave Northern Ireland goalkeeper Conor Devlin with little chance. However, only a minute of the second half had elapsed when Chris Curran halved the deficit, and James McLaughlin then headed in an equaliser a minute past the hour. Portugal and Russia, who drew 0-0 in Monday's other game in the section, are the next opponents for Iceland and Northern Ireland respectively on Wednesday.