Young Scots Start with Double Win

While most eyes were on the senior squad for the 3-0 loss to the Netherlands and the 2-1 win over Iceland this week, the future of Scotland football was showing itself to be quite bright, as the Scotland U-21 side won their two opening matches in Group 10 of the 2011 European Championships qualifying.

It was a double-header against Albania, starting with an away trip on 28 March. Chris Maguire from Aberdeen provided the only goal in our 1-0 win, but it was Barrow keeper Alan Martin who really starred. Nice to know there’s some up and coming talent between the sticks.

The return leg was played at Falkirk Stadium (Hampden was a bit booked with the Iceland match), and proved to be noticeably more lively. Maguire was again impressive for the young Scots, grabbing himself another goal and an assist, and contributing to most of the big moves in a huge 5-2 victory over that same Albanian side.

The pair of matches also saw the first U-21 caps for Rangers starlet John Fleck, who stayed off the scoreline but played well in his Scotland debuts.

Well done to the U-21s, who make the best possible start to their qualifying campaign. Wish we could say the same about the seniors, but there’s still hope there too.