Scotland U21 0 - 0 Netherlands U21: Young Scots on technical terms with Dutch

Jordan Rhodes (left) and Bram Nuytinck battle for the ball. Picture: PA

Published on Thursday 1 March 2012 05:00

IT WASN’T bad, could have been better but, ultimately, was all that it deserved to be. The point hard-earned by Scotland under-21s against the Netherlands last night doesn’t do an awful lot for their qualification hopes.

But it would be churlish to be down on their efforts when they were ranged against a nation considered among the most technically proficient on the planet. In that context, what was notable was that which was absent. For there was no skills gap between the Dutch and their hosts. The evenly-matched nature of the sides, indeed, reinforced that there was nothing flukey about the victory for Stark’s team when the pair produced a thrilling confrontation in Nijmegen in November.

Scotland couldn’t bring up a double, despite giving it a real go in the second period, with the introduction of West Brom midfielder Scott Allan after an hour supplying them with real drive. Indeed, the midfielder might have been the man to manufacture victory for his side when he played in Johnny Russell down the left with a perfectly weighted pass. But his former Dundee United team-mate couldn’t make the opening count and failed to find a way past the Dutch keeper with the goal at his mercy.

The Dutch looked more content with the tied scoreline. As well they might, having started out a point to the good in the group table.

They can expect to take full points from their final three games – two at home and the other against whipping boys Luxembourg – and in so doing makes Scotland pay for the home draws with Bulgaria and Austria.

Yet, as Stark noted afterwards, as much as they could have won all three of their homes games, they could have lost them.

All told, the tea-time return with the Dutch in Paisley, despite an impressive, if subdued, 6,607 crowd that will rank among the highest at St Mirren Park, sadly lacked the drama of the pair’s last meeting. Familiarity may have played its part. However, Scotland were still bright and adventurous in terms of the three attackers who played off Jordan Rhodes.

Granted, Gary Mackay-Steven did not see as much of the ball as would have been desired until later on, and little stuck for Rhodes, who too often found himself played in with back to goal. Russell, wriggled his way into dangerous areas and created shooting opportunities from nothing, though, with Stark calling his latest appearance his best for his country, while the under-21 coach draws an effectiveness from Wotherspoon that is proving beyond Hibernian.

The player’s problem last night was his honesty. A quarter of an hour in, he drove his way into the Dutch penalty box and clearly seemed to be pulled back by Patrick Van Aanholt. Instead of falling under a tug that sent him half spinning, Wotherspoon tried to reset himself and only succeeded in shooting past while off balance.

The Dutch immediately responded with the sort of quick, crossfield counter-attack that allowed them to slice their hosts open with three pinpoint passes. Their ability to build such moves at breathless pace and enjoy long spells of possession as they waited for the right moments to attack was their area of undoubted superiority to opponents bedecked in natty new kit of white shirts and blue shirts.

Scotland were fortunate that Adam Maher made such a hash of a glorious shooting opportunity when he had skulked in at the back post to finish off the slick ball-shuttling of his team-mates. As the interval approached, the home side were again bypassed down the left channel and Stark conceded only the fact that Leandro Bacuna battered the ball against fellow Dutchman Nacer Barazite from a telling Van Aanholt cut-back spared his side the loss of an opening.

It was luck that Scotland will believe the Fates repaid when, in the final moments, an Allan corner seemed to flash past the outstretched feet of a posse of players in white shirts. The close calls were exclusively reserved for the Dutch goalmouth in the second period with keeper Mark Ridgers and Danny Wilson both making crucial interventions.

Stark talked afterwards of his side’s ability to compete and willingness to give everything of themselves to ensure they didn’t lose games. With only two wins out of five, equally he accepted they haven’t won enough to avoid being mightily concerned about the ability even to be among the four best runners-up to join the 10 group winners in the seven play-offs to decide the seven teams who will join hosts Israel in next year’s finals.

Scotland under-21s hearten in their capacity for command of the football. That this hasn’t allowed them to be in command of their own destiny in Group 10, as Stark said, shouldn’t see commentators resort to all the old clichés about the technical deficiencies of young players in this country. These weren’t a telling factor against a Dutch side who, with one point from two games with Stark’s team, could lament, if they chose to, why they can’t do better than Scotland at under-21 level.

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