Marshall is buzzing as Scots catch lucky break

DAVID MARSHALL had set his watch on hearing the referee’s whistle. But the absence of goal-line technology in the GSP Stadium meant he was relieved to see Cyprus denied a legitimate opening goal. Beaten by Georgios Efrem’s shot, the Wigan goalkeeper watched the ball crash down off the crossbar before bouncing back into play and his hunch that it had crossed the line was shown to be correct by television replays.

The Cypriot players celebrated but with no flag from the assistant and no buzz from his wristband, referee Harald Lechner allowed play to continue. Scotland soon took the lead through Ryan Christie’s stunning 12th-minute strike and would ultimately prevail by the odd goal in three.

Marshall (below) has never seemed a particularly lucky Scotland player. But on this occasion he was happy to admit his country had caught a rare break.

‘I thought they’d scored when the ball dropped. I guessed the ref had the watch on so, when he didn’t give it, I assumed it wasn’t in,’ he said. ‘In the English Championship, they have watches that tell them if it’s crossed the line but I don’t think he had one. It was nice to have one to go for us this time.’

Marshall would eventually be beaten and there was no debate over the quality or accuracy of Efrem’s volley as he fired home a stunning equaliser soon after half-time.

‘The one they did score was an unbelievable strike,’ he continued. ‘It was in as soon as he hit it. It was a waste of time diving, frankly.’

The concession of that equaliser was an unfortunate moment for debutant Declan Gallagher who, having strained to head the ball clear from a set-play, saw it returned, with interest, into the net. The Motherwell defender was operating as half of a new centraldefensive partnership with Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna and the pair endured a few edgy moments as Cyprus chased a way back into the game.

With a raft of defenders unavailable, it’s likely Steve Clarke will persist with the pair for Tuesday’s final Group I qualifier against Kazakhstan at Hampden. That match will represent the team’s final fixture ahead of the March play-off matches.

‘It was hard for guys like Declan, making his first start,’ added Marshall. ‘It’s about getting experience, so it’s going to be like that. The more games we have together, the better we’ll be.

‘It’s difficult for the lads but I thought they handled it really well. We don’t have many games until the play-offs but this was another one that will help.’ After heavy defeats against Belgium and Russia in this campaign, Clarke’s team are slowly rebuilding morale as they work towards the spring matches. If a 6-0 win against San Marino last month offered little substantial evidence of improvement, Marshall believes this latest win, however narrow, has proved something about the mentality of Clarke’s players.

The manager’s challenge has been to match the country’s seeding by finishing third in the group and that is now an achievable goal. ‘There’s a different attitude and mindset now,’ added the No 1. ‘Let’s go into Tuesday’s game against Kazakhstan and make it three wins in a row.

‘We got the job done. They scored early in the second half but we spoke before about our reaction when we concede goals. There have been games where we’ve conceded after playing well but we handled it much better tonight. The timing of John McGinn’s goal helped us a lot. It gave us belief.

‘We weren’t used to the heat but at least we had a lead to hold on to. It was a tough game but we managed to get there in the end.’ McGinn believes the result proved a point after a week dominated by talk of call-offs. His finish, which took his tally for Scotland this season to five, arrived at the end of a fine move instigated by Greg Taylor, who has struggled for game time since moving to Celtic. McGinn said: ‘I’ve been working on trying to arrive in the box late. It was a great ball by Greg, all I had to do was keep it low. That was a game we might have drawn or even lost in recent times.

‘It’s vital we get a winning mentality, even though it wasn’t pretty near the end. We’re trying to build towards March. It’s a win and, hopefully, we’ll do the same on Tuesday.

‘All everyone wants is Scotland at a major finals and, hopefully, we can carry this into March.’