Chris stars.. but it’s still a Cadd night at the office
Reality check for Gemmill’s starlets as they’re outclassed by English hotshots
THEY raised the bar by beating Holland last time out. But Scotland’s Under-21 side had to accept England were on a different level altogether at the Riverside last night.
The Auld Enemy were a notch above Scot Gemmill’s side who failed to hit the heights they scaled against the Dutch last month.
Strikes from Spurs kid Josh Onomah, Tammy Abraham and Dom Solanke were enough to seal three points and cement England’s status as group four favourites – despite Chris Cadden’s second-half goal.
For Gemmill and Scotland, it’s a similar scenario to the full national side.
With a place for Euro 2019 up for grabs, our top-seed neighbours look set to qualify automatically while the Scots must try to secure a play-off berth.
And afterwards, Gemmill refused to be too downbeat with Latvia next up on Tuesday night.
He said: “We were disappointed with our performance in the first half but there was a big reaction from the players after that. They deserve a lot of credit and we’ll push on to Latvia now.
“To be able to put on that type of display in the second half against the top seeds was good. We were just disappointed with the goals we lost. We knew it was going to be really tough against a top team.
“But it was a brilliant experience for the players. It will be great for their development.
“We’re respectful of the level we were playing against but we’re still disappointed with that performance in the first half.”
A quick glance at the team sheet last night was enough proof of how tough an assignment this would be for the young Scots.
They may have been a class apart against Holland as they earned a 2-0 opening-game win. But they were taught a lesson by Aidy Boothroyd’s team in Middlesbrough that boasted a wealth of Premier League talent.
Their attacking quartet of Demarai Gray, Solanke, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Abraham would cause any under-21 team in the world problems.
Gemmill made two changes from the Dutch victory, with Liam Smith and Allan Campbell coming in for Anthony Ralston and Iain Wilson.
But ultimately, our boys struggled to
compete with the physicality of their English counterparts.
Which is no disgrace when you think our Championship players such as St Mirren pair Smith and Lewis Morgan were up against Gray and Calvert-Lewin who are regulars for Leicester and Everton respectively.
Onomah’s goal gave England a one-goal lead at half-time after what had been a dominant 45 minutes.
He cushioned a Scott McKenna clearance before producing a sumptuous volley that looped high over keeper Ryan Fulton and into the top corner.
Scotland toiled to get out of their own half. Skipper and lone striker Oliver Burke didn’t look fully fit and failed to get Gemmill’s side up the pitch.
He was hooked at the break for Oliver McBurnie but just five minutes in it was 2-0.
Chelsea’s £50,000 a week front-man Abraham – who is on loan at Swansea – appeared to trip himself in the box.
But the Spanish referee adjudged John Souttar to have clipped him. A penalty was awarded and Abraham made no mistake from the spot.
The Scots now had a mountain to climb just to avoid a heavy defeat.
Morgan – who was superb against Holland – was the one player in pink who at least gave the English something to think about.
But against Liverpool regular Trent AlexanderArnold it was a tough shift for the highly-rated winger.
The Scots were resilient if nothing else and when Cadden scored to make it 2-1 there was a glimmer of hope.
McBurnie showed a deft touch and terrific composure to tee him up for a tap-in.
But within a minute England had upped a gear and restored their two-goal advantage.
Onomah’s pass put Abraham through and he slipped it to Solanke who rolled into an empty net.
That was the killer goal and there was no back for the Scots who had no complaints with the final outcome.