SHY AND DRY
Gemmill curses defending from throw-in but insists his team were match for group favourites
SCOT GEMMILL insists Scotland can hold their heads high despite their Euro 2023 qualification hopes suffering a huge blow.
The Dark Blues boss opted to talk up the positives after going toe-to-toe with the Group I favourites who opened up a five-point lead at the summit alongside Belgium on full points after two games played.
A first-half error by keeper Cieran Slicker allowed Gustav Isaksen to net the only goal in a contest where Gemmill is adamant his young Scots players weren’t outclassed.
He said: “We’re disappointed to lose but I try to speak to the players about the positives. It was a positive performance. There have been times in the
SCOTLAND u21..0 DENMARK u21..1
past when a pot one team will completely dictate the game to us. I didn’t feel that was the case.
“There were moments when they did and our players had to show resilience, intelligence, but the goal was disappointing.
“Something I demand from the team is defending throwins. We are normally very good at shutting it down but it got switched and seven or eight seconds later the ball was in the back of out net. That is the level we’re playing against. “It’s a steep learning curve.” Glenn Middleton’s surge at the heart of the Danish defence was brought to a halt by Nikolas
Nartey who’s crude tug of the St Johnstone midfielder’s jersey brought a 10th minute booking.
But three minutes later the Scots were behind and it was a calamity for Manchester City keeper Slicker who failed to read the bounce from Isaksen’s shot from the edge of the box and flapped at the ball as he was beaten low to his right.
It was a finger-pointing moment and the worst possible start in front of a home crowd of 1473 which packed the Tynecastle main stand.
The Danes didn’t need more encouragement to shoot from distance and Mechelen’s
Isaksen was inches wide soon after as he fired another speculative effort past a post.
Maurits was next into the book for a lunge on Celtic ace Adam Montgomery which ended a slick attack down the right as Gemmill’s side chased a swift reply.
A sustained spell of Scottish pressure brought little more than territorial advantage with continued frustrations with a final pass or the decision making when it mattered most.
William Boving Vick’s angled drive was beaten away at his near post by Slicker in the 33rd minute as the half ended with the hosts neat and tidy in the build-up with no cutting edge.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jesper Lindstram fired over the top just a few minutes after the restart as the Danes went in search of a killer second.
Scotland’s best chance came in 55 minutes as Middleton’s thunderbolt from the edge of the box was brilliantly kept out by Mads Hermansen and Montgomery was inches away from netting the rebound.
Lindstram should have added a second for the Danes seconds later only to clip a weak effort wide while Scott Banks’ curled effort was kept out by Hermansen at the death.
SCOTLAND: Slicker, Ashby, Mayo, Welsh, Doig (Banks 72), Burroughs, Kelly (High 76), Williamson (Leonard 72) Montgomery (Mebude 55), Fiorini, Middleton. Not used: Sinclair, Clayton, Scott, Stretton, Kennedy.
DENMARK: Hermansen, Kristiansen, Hausner, Sery, Kristiansen, Carstense, Kjaergaard (Tengstedt 83), Nartey, Lindstrom, Isaksen (Bidstrup 83), Jensen (Frendrup 76), Boving Vick (Warming 64). Not used: Pedersen, Ross, Kaufmann, Dyhr, Villadsen.
Referee: R Obrenovic (Slovakia)