Scotland’s title bid ended by clinical Irish
SCOTLAND’S hopes of securing only their third outright Victory Shield triumph this century were blown away by a rampant Republic of Ireland in a second-half goal blitz yesterday. On the day when the country’s new Oriam performance centre was opened amid much hoopla and hype, the young Scots were beaten 3-0 in the venue’s hugely impressive indoor arena. Three goals in nine minutes — Adam Idah opening the scoring before Callum Thompson bagged a double — were more than enough for the Republic to walk off with the trophy after a third consecutive win. Scotland, who kept 13-year-old Celtic wonderkid Karamoko Dembele on the bench until they were three down, simply ran out of steam after beating Northern Ireland and drawing with Wales earlier in the week. Needing to win this one in order to lift the Victory Shield for the second time in four years, Scotland very nearly took the lead inside the opening minute. Billy Gilmour, the Rangers No 10 being scouted by everybody from Arsenal and Manchester United to Bayern Munich and Barcelona, was the architect with a through ball of real vision, but Motherwell’s Jamie Semple was unable to get on the end of it. After a positive first 45 minutes, Ireland turned the tide. They opened the scoring with 53 minutes gone as Idah rounded the goalkeeper and finishing into an empty net. Thompson then struck a quick-fire double to secure the Shield for Ireland. Dembele came on soon after the third and cut a dejected figure. It was that kind of day for Scotland.