13.03.05 Portugal 1 - 2 Northern Ireland

Goals from Stacey Hall and Ashley Hutton gave Northern Ireland their first victory at the Algarve Cup today. Hall struck on 20 minutes, after being put through by Rachel Furness, and four minutes later Ashley Hutton doubled their advantage, the assist again coming from Rachel Furness, this time from the corner flag.

Portugal pulled one back on 34 minutes after a defensive mix up left Northern Ireland keeper Christine Drain badly exposed and buoyed by that - and a shaky spell from the visitors - the Portuguese forced the best out of keeper Drain, who pulled off a couple of good saves to keep her side ahead.

Northern Ireland had chances to kill the game off through Aine McGovern and Lisa O'Neill, but the game ended at 2 - 1 and coach Alfie Wylie was ecstatic at picking up a first win - "I'm delighted for the girls and it's a fitting reward for all the hard work they have put in. We're not used to being in a potentially winning situation and we got nervous at times after they scored but overall it was a tremendous performance and all credit to the girls."

The two sides meet again in two days time however, to battle it out for 11th place.

The final Group C table is shown below