Early treble fires Northern Ireland top

Northern Ireland surged to the top of UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 9 after their biggest win in six years at Mourneview Park.

Early blitz
The home side made an incredible start and were 3-0 up against Luxembourg after just seven minutes. David Buchanan opened the scoring in the second minute, Andrew Waterworth added a second and Michael O'Connor fired in the third against the shell-shocked visitors. Jamie Ward made it 4-0 with only 27 minutes on the clock with a shot from a narrow angle, but Northern Ireland made to wait until the eleventh minute of the second half to register again, Chris Turner getting in on the act with a superb individual effort.

Two-point gap
The result moved Northern Ireland to nine points from five games, two clear of Germany and Israel although those side have two and one game in hand, respectively. The home side can maintain, or even add to, their buffer on Tuesday when Moldova are the visitors and Germany face a tricky trip to Luxembourg.