Scots U-21s in Danes defeat

SCOT GEMMILL last night lamented a momentary lapse of concentration as his Scotland under-21s side went down narrowly to top seeds denmark.

The only goal of the game at Tynecastle came in the first half from Midtjylland attacker Gustav Isaksen.

But boss Gemmill was unhappy at how his players had been slow to react to a throw-in at the halfway line seconds before the ball hit the home net.

‘The goal was disappointing,’ he said. ‘Something I demand from my team is defending well at throw-ins.

‘We are normally very good at shutting teams down but the ball got switched — and seven or eight seconds later it was in the back of our net.

‘That is the level of team we are playing against. If you don’t do your job, the ball will end up in your net. It’s a steep learning curve.

‘But it was a positive performance. There have been times when a Pot 1 team completely dictates the game to us. I didn’t feel that was the case tonight.’

Scotland headed into this euro 2023 qualifier on the back of a creditable away 1-1 draw in Turkey.

But they were behind after 13 minutes and it was down to an error by keeper Cieran Slicker who let Isaksen’s shot squeeze past him.

Slicker did, however, make good saves from Jesper Lindstrom and William Boving vick.

After the break, Glenn Middleton had a shot saved by denmark keeper Mads Hermansen.

Then Lindstrom should have put the game beyond doubt when he ran clear through on the Scotland goal.

He chipped the outrushing Slicker but the ball bounced wide.

The Scots pressed well at times but they lacked invention up front against an admittedly strong danish defence.

Scotland already face an uphill battle to reach euro 2023 in romania and Georgia after picking up one point from their opening two matches.

Last night’s defeat was the first of four home games on the bounce, against Kazakhstan and Belgium next month and Turkey in March.