PATIENT APPROACH GIVES YOUNG SCOTS LIFT-OFF

SCOTLAND got their European Under-17 Championship campaign off to a decent start in Croatia when they finally broke down a Faroe Islands side who had set out to frustrate Scot Gemmill’s side. The Scots had to wait until the hour mark to make the breakthrough when substitute Innes Cameron netted five minutes after coming on. And Scots captain Jack Aitchison of Celtic made sure of the points in Lucko, outside Zagreb, with a quickfire second goal, before the Islanders were reduced to ten men late on. Scotland will face bigger tests in their next two Group B games against Hungary and France, but Gemmill was delighted with his youngsters. ‘I thought it was a really accomplished performance for such a young set of players to have the maturity, discipline and quality to stick to the game plan,’ he said. ‘They had the belief that the chances and the goal would come. Lesser players or weaker teams would have panicked and started to divert from the game plan.’ Scotland dominated from the start and a lovely flick from Aitchison set up Sebastian Ross for an early chance, but he was thwarted by the legs of debutant Faroes keeper Bjarti Mork. The Faroes — who were playing in their first match in a finals tournament at any level — were proving to be stubborn opposition. Aitchison then produced a fantastic reaction save from Mork. Scotland’s pressure finally told on the hour-mark when Rangers’ Jordan Houston’s cross was tapped in by Killie kid Cameron. Aitchison gave the scoreline a more accurate reflection when he lashed home from close range after the Scots had robbed the Faroese of possession. The Faroes were reduced to ten men with nine minutes left when Asbjorn Hedinsson was shown a second yellow card for a lunge on Glenn Middleton.