SCOTLAND'S Under-16s suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Northern Ireland in their opening Victory Shield clash at St Mirren Park last night.

Scot Gemmill's youngsters fell 2-0 behind after goals from Liam McKenna and Jack White, with Celtic's Jack Aitchison grabbing a consolation in stoppage time.

"There's no doubt the result was very important and I would never try to deflect that," said Gemmill.

"We are definitely disappointed to lose but I can stomach the defeat slightly more because of the fact we didn't accept it and kept going to the end."

England began with a 1-0 victory over Wales.

Scotland (4-3-3): McAdams; Wilson, Meredith, Baur, T Gallacher; Burt, Connelly, McAllister (Preston 53); O Gallacher (Aitchison 64), Adamson, Middleton (McLennan 64).