NI youngsters end on a low

Scorers: Holtby and Herrmann celebrate

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Northern Ireland Under-21s finished their European Championship campaign on a low with a resounding 3-0 defeat in Germany.

Home skipper Lewis Holtby netted either side of half-time before substitute Patrick Herrmann added a third on 67 minutes to make sure of the win.

But it could have been worse for Steve Beaglehole's side who also saw the woodwork of their goal rattled on two further occasions in the second period.

The disappointing defeat means the visitors missed the opportunity to move above the Germans and into third place in Group Five after their 4-0 rout of San Marino on Friday.

With Czech Republic and Iceland having already sewn up the top two places in the group, both sides knew third was the best they could hope for and a tight battle ensued early on.

Solo goal

The visitors held their own before they fell behind to a fine solo goal from Holtby, whose father is English, three minutes before the interval.

The striker found space for himself on the edge of the area before unleashing a searing left-footed drive across goal and past a diving Conor Devlin.

Holtby then thundered another shot against the crossbar early in the second half before he got his second goal on the hour mark.

This time he showed composure to finish after he picked up the ball following a counter-attack just inside his own half.

With no Irish defenders to block his path to goal the 19-year-old ran 40 yards before outfoxing an exposed Devlin and sliding home.

Under siege

The visitors were now under siege and Lee Hodson had to clear after Devlin had been beaten by Richard Sukuta-Pasu, who may have scored had he hit his effort more cleanly.

But Germany's third did arrive after 67 minutes thanks to some sloppy defending by Northern Ireland.

The visitors needlessly gave away the ball in their own half before another quick German move teed up substitute Herrmann whose side-footed shot slipped through the grasp of Devlin and into the net.

Christoph Moritz's 30-yard drive then bounced back off a post, while Devlin then saved bravely after Sukuta-Pasu tricked his way into the area to keep the scoreline down.