Coach Roy Millar blamed "defensive sloppiness" after Northern Ireland Under-21s were beaten 3-1 by Romania in a friendly in Ballymena.Northern Ireland's chances of qualifying for the European Championship have been taken out of their hands and they need to beat Germany in September to stand any chance of reaching the play-offs.
Romania, who are battling with Wales in Group 10, have beaten their Northern Ireland counterparts twice in the last two years, and Millar admitted they deserved to make it a hat-trick of wins.
"It was a disappointing result," he said. "In the first half I thought we played very, very well but we gave away two soft goals. Our passing was careless.
"In the second half we got the game back to 2-1 through Tommy Stewart. I thought we were going to get an equaliser, we dominated the second half, but they intercepted a pass and won 3-1.
"So overall it was a decent performance but I'm disappointed with the result.
"Romania are a very good side and they deserved to win. They're a quality team so it was an extremely good workout for us."
Millar's options were hampered by a round of Carnegie Irish Premier Division fixtures last night as well as league matches in England on Monday, and he used the friendly to give some of his fringe players a run-out.
Ciprian Deac put Romania ahead after 32 minutes and captain Claudiu Keseru profited from a Northern Ireland mistake to net the second on the stroke of half-time.
Stewart's far-post tap-in gave the hosts hope but another misplaced pass from Millar's side allowed Keseru to grab his second and secure the victory.
"It was a good opportunity to give some of the players who have been on the bench a start and we're ready now to play Ukraine and Germany in August and September," said Millar, who singled out Wrexham's on-loan midfielder Robert Garrett for praise.
"He had really good game. He was our best player in central midfield.
"Some of the players did their cause no harm at all while others still have a bit to do," Millar added. "Our keeper didn't have any saves to make and they took advantage of defensive sloppiness."
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