Scotland Under-21 1 Quinn (82)
BILLY Stark's first match as manager of the Scotland Under-21 side ended in defeat last night as hosts Portugal reached the final of the Vale do Tejo mini-tournament.
His side finished with ten me
n at the match staged in Abrantes, a small town in central, inland Portugal, and Scotland will face Ukraine today in a third/fourth-place play-off before coming home.
Rocco Quinn got Scotland back into the game with eight minutes remaining, and Stark's men almost drew level in the end when Quinn's Celtic colleague Ryan Conroy went close. However, they were 2-0 behind by the time Kilmarnock's Jamie Hamill was dismissed in the 76th minute, for a second yellow-card offence in the space of 15 minutes.
Portugal had gone in front after 33 minutes when SD Fatima striker Saleiro converted a precise cross from Roma defender Antunes beyond Queen of the South's on-loan goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald.
Pele beat MacDonald with a superb 25-yard effort to give Portugal breathing space, but Quinn got the better of Fulham reserve keeper Ricardo Batista in the 82nd minute to raise Scottish hopes.
Conroy was a whisker from a late leveller, while Hearts full-back Lee Wallace also failed to find the target as Stark's side pressed.
The home side clung on, however, and, after today's game, the young Scots will turn their attention to their European Under-21 Championship qualifiers, the next of which is the crucial clash with unbeaten Group Six leaders Finland at Pittodrie on 26 March.
Portugal U-21: Ricardo Batista, Bruno Pereirinha, Da Costa, Vasco Fernandes, Antunes, Pele, Fernandes (Goncalo Brandao 70), Paulo Machado (Helder Barbosa 46), Vieirinha (Celestino 46), Vaz Te, Carlos Saleiro.Subs Not Used: Ventura, Lopez, Bruno Pinheiro, Valoso, Joao Moutinho, Guedes, Rui Patricio, Targino.
Scotland U-21: MacDonald, Wallace, Hamill, Cuthbert, Scobbie, Elliot, Naismith, Quinn, Stevenson, Caddis, Dorrans. Subs Not Used: Smith, McCann, O'Leary, Lennon, Campbell, Conroy, Snodgrass, Cameron, McArthur.
The full article contains 350 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
