Scotland U-21's EURO qualifiers

Finland 3 v 2 Scotland

our first match ended in a loss as finland scored an 89th minute winner. we were down to 10 men at this point as charlie mulgrew had been sent off for taking his shirt off after equalising (nice going...), this being his 2nd bookable offence.

Finland continued their winning start to their 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign as they beat Scotland 3-2 in Vantaa.

Late winner

The Finns opened their campaign with a shock 1-0 victory in Denmark in June, and they took confidence from that game into today's fixture. The home side dominated the opening period of the Group 6 encounter and took the lead on 22 minutes through Berat Sadik. Steven Fletcher equalised on the stroke of half time but within four minutes of the restart Tomi Petrescu fired Finland back in front. Scotland pulled it back to 2-2 thanks to Charlie Mulgrew, who was subsequently sent off for a second bookable offence. With just a minute remaining Finland took advantage of the extra man as Ville Jalasto scored the winner.

Maurice Malpas was coach for the first match as Archie Knox has left to take over a coaching role at Bolton.

Scotland next face Denmark at East End Park, Dunfermline, on Wednesday, with a 5.15 pm kick-off. and will be looking for 3 points.

full fixtures ---

08.09.2007 v Finland (A) 2-3
12.09.2007 v Denmark (H) 17:15
11.10.2007 v Lithuania (H) TBD
17.11.2007 v Slovenia (A) TBD
26.03.2008 v Finland (H) TBD
20.08.2008 v Lithuania (A) TBD
05.09.2008 v Slovenia (H) TBD
10.09.2008 v Denmark (A) TBD


league table ---

GROUP 6

Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Finland 2 2 0 0 4 2 6
Denmark 2 1 0 1 4 1 3
Slovenia 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
Scotland 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
Lithuania 2 0 0 2 1 6 0

 

lest we forget about the u-21's who kicked off 30 mins ago.


Scotland U21 v Denmark U21


Scotland will be without suspended Wolves midfielder Charlie Mulgrew for the Under-21 Euro 2009 qualifying tie with Denmark on Wednesday.

Mulgrew picked up a second yellow card while celebrating his goal during Saturday's 3-2 defeat in Finland.

Hibs striker Steven Fletcher will be fit for the game at East End Park despite an ankle knock.

But Kevin McCann has not recovered from a similar problem and Celtic's Paul Caddis has been called up.

Interim manager Maurice Malpas remains upbeat despite losing out to a last-minute goal at the weekend.

"We have lost one game and people are saying 'that's it, it's finished' - it was a major blow," said the former Motherwell boss.

"It's one game we have lost out of eight. We think we will still qualify.

"It was a difficult away game and I think a lot of people underestimated Finland.

"I was quite happy with how the players went about their business on Saturday night after the game.

"They were disappointed and quite quiet. We had a meal together and a wee chat.

"On Sunday morning we took them and discussed the game and saw a completely different attitude on Sunday morning.

"They told us they were disappointed in their performance and everything from that meeting was positive.

"It's always been the case you have to win your home games."

currently 0-0 at the minute ​

 

Scotland U21 0-0 Denmark U21

Scotland failed to beat Danish Kasper Schmeichel as their hopes of reaching the Euro 2008 finals suffered a blow at East End Park.

Rangers striker Steven Naismith rattled the crossbar in the second half, but the Scots could not break the deadlock.

Denmark came close through Soren Christensen's deflected effort, but rarely troubled Hearts goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald for the rest of the game.

Fletcher failed with a late penalty appeal as the Scots were denied.

Scotland coach Maurice Malpas brought in Dundee United's David Robertson to replace the suspended Charlie Mulgrew - and Steven Fletcher passed a late fitness test.

Captain Naismith looked dangerous throughout and his cross for Fletcher in the 12th minute was cut out by Magnus Troest.

The hosts missed two chances within a minute when Robertson headed wide from Ross McCormack's cross over after 30 minutes.

And the Hibs player was denied moments later when his 12-yard shot was superbly turned round the post by Schmeichel.

McCormack was denied by the superb Schmeichel 10 minutes after the break, as the Scots became more frustrated in front of goal.

Fletcher then took a tumble in the penalty area after 83 minutes under Jonas Damborg's challenge, but referee Cesar Muniz Fernandez waved away the claims as the Scots had to settle for a point.


anyone have a team line-up?

this result means we're going to probably need to win possibly 5 of our last 6 matches which could be a bit of a tall order.

it looks like jamie mcdonald, the hearts keeper on loan to queen of the south was in between the sticks for scotland.

 

Scotland v Lithuania - U-21 EURO qualifier - Thursday 11th October - Easter Road - 7.45pm

given our start in this group this is a must win game if the u-21's have any hopes of making it to the finals.

squad --

Goalkeepers

Jamie MacDonald (Heart of Midlothian)
Euan McLean (Dundee United)
Chris Smith (St Mirren)

Defenders

Paul Caddis (Celtic)
Andrew Considine (Aberdeen)
Scott Cuthbert (Celtic)
Paul Dixon (Dundee)
Garry Kenneth (Dundee United)
Kevin McCann (Hibernian)
Mark Reynolds (Motherwell)

Midfield

Scott Arfield (Falkirk)
Greg Cameron (Dundee United)
Marc Fitzpatrick (Motherwell)
Jamie Hamill (Kilmarnock)
Kevin McDonald (Dundee)
Charlie Mulgrew (Wolverhampton W)
Rocco Quinn (Celtic)
Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian)

Forwards

Ross Campbell (Hibernian)
Calum Elliot (Heart of Midlothian)
Steven Fletcher (Hibernian)
Ross McCormack (Motherwell)
Steven Naismith (Rangers)


in steven naismith, steven fletcher and calum elliot we certainly have the players capable of putting lithuania to the sword.

andrew considine has looked very good for aberdeen so far this season and will hopefully take his place in the back four.

 

Scotland U-21 3 v 0 Lithuania U-21

ross mccormack, charlie mulgrew and steven fletcher got the goals in front of a crowd of just over 4,500 fans to get our u-21 qualifying back on track. 2 goals right at the end of the first half paved the way for the important victory.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7038363.stm

Team: macdonald; kenneth, considine, reynolds, cuthbert(mccann 85), hamill, mccormack, mcdonald, fletcher(campbell 82), mulgrew(stevenson 67), naismith

Group 6


Finland 2-0-0 4-2 6
Denmark 1-1-1 4-1 4
Scotland 1-1-1 5-3 4
Slovenia 1-1-0 2-1 4
Lithuania 0-1-3 1-9 1

 

excellent.

how did considine play? i've been really impressed with him this season. although i'd imagine that the lithuanians wouldn't have tested him much.

 

Slovenia U-21's 0

Scotland U-21's 4
(Hamill 33, McCormack 51, Naismith 57 pen, Fletcher 62)

a great result in this EURO U-21 qualifier gives us renewed hope for qualifying from the group.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7093307.stm

latest standings with games played and points...

Group 6 Pld Pts
Finland 4 12
Denmark 5 10
Scotland 4 7
Slovenia 5 4
Lithuania 6 1

 

not a qualifier but i thought this was the best place to insert it.



Portugal U21 2-1 Scotland U21

Billy Stark's first match as boss of the Scotland Under-21 side ended in defeat as hosts Portugal reached the final of the Vale do Tejo tournament.

Miguel Carlos Saleiro and Vitor Pele were on target for Portugal either side of the half-time interval.

Kilmarnock's Jamie Hamill was dismissed for a second yellow-card offence before Celtic midfielder Rocco Quinn hit a late goal for the Scots.

Scotland will play Ukraine on Wednesday in a third/fourth-place play-off.

Stark was missing injured Hibs striker Steven Fletcher.

And the rearranged Scottish Cup tie between Motherwell and Dundee, which was postponed, meant Marc Fitzpatrick, Mark Reynolds, Ross McCormack and Kevin McDonald all stayed at home.

Add in the fact that Aberdeen played Dundee Utd in the CIS cup final last night also contributed to the weakened team we had to field.


Portugal U21: Ricardo Batista, Bruno Pereirinha, Da Costa, Vasco Fernandes, Antunes, Pele, Fernandes (Goncalo Brandao 70), Paulo Machado (Helder Barbosa 46), Vieirinha (Celestino 46), Vaz Te, Carlos Saleiro. Subs Not Used: Ventura, Lopez, Bruno Pinheiro, Valoso, Joao Moutinho, Guedes, Rui Patricio, Targino.

Booked: Fernandes, Da Costa, Celestino.

Goals: Carlos Saleiro 33, Pele 67.

Scotland U21: MacDonald, Wallace, Hamill, Cuthbert, Scobbie, Elliot, Naismith, Quinn, Stevenson, Caddis, Dorrans. Subs Not Used: Smith, McCann, O'Leary, Lennon, Campbell, Conroy, Snodgrass, Cameron, McArthur.

Booked: Naismith, Wallace.

Goal: Quinn 82


stark commented today in the paper's how his portuguese counterpart apologized after the match for his teams underhanded tactics in the game.

we play ukraine today in the third placed play off.

 

Vale De Tejo - Third Place Play-Off



Scotland U21 2-2 Ukraine U21

Scotland fought back from two goals down to draw with Ukraine and finish joint-third in the Vale do Tejo tournament in Portugal.

Ukraine took a commanding lead with goals either side of half-time from Taras Stepanenko and Dmytro Lyopa.

But Scott Arfield pegged one back in 64 minutes, then Ryan Conroy drew the Scotland level six minutes later.

Billy Stark's side also finished the match with ten men after Scott Cuthbert was sent of 13 minutes from time.

In his second game in charge, the Scotland Under-21 coach made a raft of changes, with only Scott Cuthbert remaining from the defeat to hosts Portugal on Tuesday.

The squad have no match now until the visit of unbeaten Group Six leaders Finland to Pittodrie in European Championship qualifying on 26 March.

The young Scots lie third in the five-team qualifying group, with two wins, a draw and a defeat.


a good comeback and a decent start for stark considering the amount of players he had missing from his squad.

will get the line-ups when i can.

 

rocco quinns reply against portugal


[youtube]rB-k2VrbtcU[/youtube]

 

billy starks first competitive game in charge of the u-21's is next wednesday night at pittodrie.

a big game it is as well as we host the unbeaten fin's. a win against finland is a priority to keep us in with a shout of qualifying for the finals in sweden.

Scotland U21 squad to face Finland

Goalkeepers
Jamie MacDonald (Heart of Midlothian)
Euan McLean (Dundee United)
Chris Smith (St Mirren)

Defenders
Andrew Considine (Aberdeen)
Scott Cuthbert (Celtic)
Garry Kenneth (Dundee United)
Kevin McCann (Hibernian)
Mark Reynolds (Motherwell)
Thomas Scobbie (Falkirk)
Lee Wallace (Heart of Midlothian)

Midfielders
Scott Arfield (Falkirk)
Ryan Conroy (Celtic)
Jamie Hamill (Kilmarnock)
James McArthur (Hamilton Accies)
Kevin McDonald (Dundee)
Charles Mulgrew (Wolverhampton)
Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian)

Forwards
Ross Campbell (Hibernian)
Graham Dorrans (Livingston)
Calum Elliot (Heart of Midlothian)
Ross McCormack (Motherwell)
Steven Naismith (Rangers)


no fletcher as he has been promoted to the full squad but there's still plenty of talent in this team. considine, kenneth and scobbie in defence. arfield, hamill and mcdonald in midfield and mccormack and naismith up front.

 

Billy Stark has been doing pretty well with the U-21's so far. they'll play Norway in a friendly at Rugby Park on the 20th May.

here's the squad -

Goalkeepers:
Greg Fleming (Gretna)
Euan McLean (Dundee United)

Defenders:
Paul Caddis (Celtic)
Scott Cuthbert (Celtic)
Ryan O'Leary (Kilmarnock)
Alex Pearce (Reading)
Thomas Scobbie (Falkirk)
Lee Wallace (Heart of Midlothian)

Midfielders:
Scott Arfield (Falkirk)
Ryan Conroy (Celtic)
Jamie Hamill (Kilmarnock)
Rory McAllister
Kevin McDonald (Dundee)
Charlie Mulgrew (Wolverhampton)

Forwards:
Graham Dorrans (Livingston)
Calum Elliot (Heart of Midlothian)
Steven Lennon (Rangers)
Robert Snodgrass (Livingston)

 

our youngsters still have a decent chance of making the EURO U-21 finals.

a great result today in Lithuania. (take note Rangers )

Lithuania U21's 0

Scotland U21's 3
(Arfield 4, McCormack 39, McDonald 60)


Lithuania U21: Arlauskis, Freidgeimas, Klimavicius, Gnedojus, Slavickas, Cinikas (Matulevicius 60), Fridrikas, Leimonas (Birskys 78), Vysniauskas (Papsys 46), Valskis, Razulis. Subs Not Used: Vertelis, Vaitkunas, Kuklys, Urbsys.

Booked: Leimonas, Klimavicius

Scotland U21: MacDonald, Caddis, Wallace, McArthur, Cuthbert, Considine, Lennon, Arfield (Robertson 64), Ross McCormack, McDonald (Dorrans 82), Mulgrew (Elliot 28). Subs Not Used: McLean, Mitchell, Darren McCormack, Conroy.


Falkirk midfielder Scott Arfield was on target as Scotland's U21s recorded a convincing win over Lithuania.

Arfield put Billy Stark's side ahead in the fourth minute when he headed home past goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis.

Ross McCormack doubled the visitors' lead six minutes before the break after a mazy run and smart finish.

Kevin McDonald grabbed the third when he pounced on Arlauskis' fumble to boost Scotland's hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2009 finals.

The Scots have two games left to secure qualification for the finals in Sweden.

The 10 group winners and four best runners-up will make up the play-offs for next summer's finals but Stark would not be drawn on whether he felt his side would be involved.


Group 6 Pld Pts

Finland 6 15
Scotland 6 13
Denmark 6 13
Slovenia 6 4
Lithuania 8 1


remaining fixtures

Friday 5 or Saturday 6 September 2008
Scotland v Slovenia

Wednesday 10 September 2008
Denmark v Scotland

 

HT score -

Scotland 2
(Fletcher 1, Kenneth 42)

Slovenia 0


a very good first 45mins for the u-21's. we've played some good football and looked pretty solid so far.

we got off to the best possible start as Fletcher got his first goal of the season as he ran onto a perfectly weighted McCormack through ball and placed his shot past the keeper and in off the far post. we doubled our advantage 3mins before HT as a dangerous Mulgrew free kick was headed goalwards by Gary Kenneth. it struck the post but rebounded back to the big centre half and he tucked it away to double our advantage.

we've looke comfortable at the back and hopefully we can get a couple more in the second half.

Team Line-up

GK: MacDonald(Hearts)

LB: Wallace(Hearts)
CB: Considine(Aberdeen)
CB: Kenneth(Dundee Utd)
RB: Cuthbert(St Mirren)

LM: Mulgrew(Aberdeen)
CM: Arfield(Falkirk)
CM: McDonald(Burnley)
RM: Lennon(Partick Thistle)

CF: McCormack(Cardiff City)
CF: Fletcher(Hibernian)

 

FT

Scotland 3
(Fletcher 1, 64, Kenneth 42)

Slovenia 1
(Matav 54)


a good victory tonight that puts us top of the group and leaves the pressure on the Danes and the Finnish. if we win our last match away to Demark then we'll have a good chance of getting to the EURO u-21 finals in Sweden next year.

apart from a sloppy 15mins at the start of the second half, we dominated the game. a poor pass out of defense from Kenneth put us in trouble and led to Slovenia's only goal of the game. however, the 3 goal cushion was soon restored as Fletcher got his second of the night after getting on the end of an excellent deep cross from Mulgrew. Fletcher missed out on his hat trick as he had been subbed off when we were given a very soft penalty in the 90th min but justice was done as Mulgrew was too casual with his kick and the keeper saved. McCormack almost made it 4 with 10mins to go when he smashed a free kick off the bar but all in all it was a pretty good performance.

best players were Mulgrew and Fletcher. Arfield and McDonald also impressed a lot in the middle of the pitch.

 

Denmark 1 Scotland 0

another glorious failure.


after a poor start to the campaign the young Scots stormed back into contention in the group and only needed a point from the last match to make it to the play offs for the EURO u-21 finals in Sweden next year.

but the 1-0 loss means we finished third in the group...

 

after getting so close to the playoffs Billy Stark is sweeping the broom and bringing in 10 new players for the match against N. Ireland.


Goalkeepers

Scott Gallacher (Rangers), Alan Martin (Leeds United)

Defenders

Paul Caddis (Celtic), Brian Easton (Hamilton Academical), David Gray (Manchester United), Jason Marr (Celtic), Chris Mitchell (Falkirk), Alex Pearce (Reading)

Midfielders

Scott Arfield (Falkirk), Paul Coutts (Peterborough United), Kevin McDonald (Burnley), Mark Millar (Celtic), Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian)

Forwards

David Goodwillie (Dundee United), Steven Lennon (Rangers), Rory Loy (Rangers), Chris Maguire (Aberdeen), Jamie Murphy (Motherwell)


there's a lot of inexperience there both at international level and club level.

 

U-21's lost at home to N.Ireland in their friendly.


Scotland U21: Martin (Gallacher 16), Gray (Mitchell 78), Easton, Duff (Coutts 46), Pearce, Arfield (Loy 68), Caddis, Maguire (Millar 65), Murphy, McDonald (Goodwillie 46), Stevenson (Lennon 79).

Goals: Murphy 3.

N Ireland U21: Carson, Chapman (McMenamin 46), Lafferty (Flynn 46), Casement, Cathcart, Evans (Magee 86), Shroot (Lawrie 46), Weir, Little, McQuoid (McQuilken 67), Ferguson (Collligan 80).
Subs Not Used: O'Neill.

Booked: Chapman, Weir.

Goals: McQuoid 9, 26, Little 49.


Billy Stark's take on things -