Under 21 Euro qualifying: Defeat in Slovakia further dents Northern Ireland's hopes
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Fleetwood Town midfielder Carl Johnston scored Northern Ireland's goal in Zilina
Northern Ireland Under 21s' faltering bid for Euro 2023 qualification suffered a major setback with a 2-1 defeat away to Slovakia.
Fleetwood Town midfielder Carl Johnston was the goalscorer for John Schofield's side, netting in the 61st minute to equalise Matej Trusa's opener eight minutes before half time.
Jakub Kadak scored a penalty on 86 minutes to win it for the hosts.
The defeat means Northern Ireland stay fifth out of six teams in Group C.
With two wins and five defeats from their seven matches, John Schofield's men are nine points behind the top two of Spain and Russia, who are both on 15 points.
Russia, who Northern Ireland were due to host on Tuesday night, are currently suspended from the competition due to their country's invasion of Ukraine.
The top team will qualify automatically for the finals in Georgie and Romania, with second place in the group earning a play-off spot.
Manchester United midfielder Ethan Galbraith, currently on loan at Doncaster Rovers, captained Northern Ireland but committed the foul that led to the penalty for Slovakia's winner.
Slovakia had 17 efforts on goal compared to only six for Northern Ireland, and immediately had John Schofield's side under pressure with Roland Galcik and Adrian Kapralik going close early on.
Jan Barnet then hit a post and the pressure told in the 37th minute when Trusa beat Ollie Webber with a neat finish.
Shea Charles went close for Northern Ireland early in the second half and they levelled when Johnston was on hand to turn in Chris McKee's cut-back from close range.
Northern Ireland went close to taking the lead late on when Aaron Donnelly met Galbraith's free-kick, denied by Lubomir Belko, and Slovakia punished them moments later.
Northern Ireland could not mount a response in the time that remained, with Webber needing to prevent Tomas Bobcek from adding to the score.
Schofield's side now head to Calais for Monday's friendly against France, a fixture that replaced the cancelled qualifier against Russia.