EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP/Group Six:Northern Ireland - 0 Greece - 2:Sammy McIlroy was left dejected last night as Northern Ireland slumped to defeat after being reduced to nine men.
James Quinn and Keith Gillespie were both sent off in this European Championship qualifier at Windsor Park.
Irish boss McIlroy has now seen his side fail to score in 792 minutes - and it is 17 months since they last achieved a victory.
Two goals from Werder Bremen striker Angelos Charisteas condemned them to defeat in front of a crowd of just 7,000.
Greece took the lead after three minutes when Charisteas rounded Maik Taylor to score after Vasilios Tsartas had carved out the opening.
The Irish were struggling to get their game together but Steve Lomas got on the end of a flick-on from Quinn, only to fire well wide of the target. Quinn then needed treatment in the 20th minute after a stiff challenge from Sotirios Kyrgiakos.
The Irish's troubles increased in the 38th minute when Quinn was sent off after a wild lunge on Georgios Karagounis.
The home side made a bright start to the second half and Lomas latched onto a pass from David Healy only to see his shot deflected.
Then McIlroy saw his team concede a second goal in the 56th minute when a sloppy backpass from George McCartney let in Charisteas and he scored from close range.
McIlroy's team were reduced to nine men in the 69th minute when Gillespie was sent off after picking up his second yellow card for a foul on Kyrgiakos.
The Irish nearly broke their scoring drought in the 83rd minute when Mark Williams cracked in a shot only to see it come back off the bar.
NORTHERN IRELAND: Taylor, Hughes, McCartney, Craigan, Williams, Lomas, Gillespie, Johnson, (McVeigh 67), Quinn, Healy, McCann (Kirk 67) Subs not used: Fettis, Elliott, Duff, Toner, Baird. Red cards: Quinn 39, Gillespie 69
GREECE: Nikopolidis; Giannakopoulos, Venetidis, Dabizas, Kyrgiakos, Konstadinidis, Zagorakis, Karagounis, Charisteas, Tsiartas (Kaffes 75), Nikolaidis (Vryzas 40) Subs not used: Chalkias, Georgiadis, Fyssas, Amanatidis, Lakis. Scorer: Anellos Charisteas 2, 55
Referee: Gregorz Gilewski (Poland).
