NI World Cup campaign ends on Austrian low

Northern Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign ended on a downbeat last night following a 2-0 defeat in Vienna against Austria.

Record goalscorer David Healy had three great chances to open the scoring during the first half however despite dominating the opening period Lawrie Sanchez' men went in at half time 1-0 down thanks to a Rene Aufhauser strike on 43 minutes.

A positive start to the second-half failed to last and the home side began to exert more of an influence on the game which turned nasty on 73 minutes when Damien Johnson was sent off for a rash challenge on Emanuel Pogatetz, who was also dismissed for raising his hands in retaliation.

Aufhauser then grabbed his second goal with a stinging left-foot shot in added time after Northern Ireland's tired legs had begun show.

However, despite the defeat manager Lawrie Sanchez was still in a positive frame of mind considering his side had finished fourth in Group Six.

"We know we have a bit of work to do but we competed well in most of the games in this campaign," he said.

"We finished fourth in the group when we were seeded to finish fifth so it has been a reasonable series of matches."

The former Wycombe manager however reserved special praise for Northern Ireland's fans, 1,700 of which travelled over for Wednesday's final qualifying game.

"They travelled here in huge numbers and really lifted us. They can be very proud of themselves," he said.

Northern Ireland's next game will be in November when they are expected to face Portugal, however this game has still to be confirmed.

The draw for the Euro 2008 championships take place in January 2006.

(MB/SP)