LACK OF DISCIPLINE COSTS SCOTS' YOUNGSTERS

Scotland 2 (Duffy 2, Robertson 45) Belarus 3 (Kontsevoi 57, Kovel 64, Afanasyev 76) Attendance 3,122 The home side got off to the perfect start in two minutes when former Ranger Darryl Duffy volleyed home from twenty yards to open the scoring. The Scots had the better of play for most of the first-half and might have increased their lead when both Mark Wilson and Duffy again came close- but the second goal duly arrived on the stroke of half-time when Gregor Robertson headed home a Steven Whittaker corner. The Byelorussians were a different prospect in the second-half however – reducing the deficit twelve minutes after the restart when Artyom Kontsevoi netted following an Oleg Shkabara corner. The goal was the signal for mayhem as the visitors sought to retrieve the ball and restart the game – Christophe Berra and Sergei Kornilenko both being red-carded for a punch-up. Seven minutes later the scores were level when Leanid Kovel netted following a scramble. It was all going wrong for Scotland’s youngsters now – and things were to get worse in 66 minutes when Paul Gallagher was ordered off for a quite shocking foul on Kovel. Scotland’s central defensive partnership of Steven Watt and Neil Collins were having a collective nightmare at the heart of the home defence – and they were posted missing once again in 76 minutes when substitute Mikhail Afanasyev netted from Kontsevoi’s cutback. There was no way back for Scotland, and with private battles going on all over the pitch in the closing stages both sides could considerable themselves fortunate that more players from each side were not invited to have an early bath. At the final whistle most home players refused point-blank to shake the hands of their opponents. SCOTLAND Turner (Everton); Berra (Hearts), Robertson (Rotherham United); Watt (Chelsea), Collins (Sunderland), Wilson (Dundee United); Whittaker (Dundee United), McCunnie (Dunfermline Athletic) {Diamond (Aberdeen) 66}, Duffy (Falkirk) {Brighton (Clyde) 80}, Lawson (Celtic), Gallagher (Blackburn Rovers) UNUSED SUBS Smith (Motherwell), Quinn (Motherwell), Mulgrew (Celtic), McCormack (Rangers), Clarkson (Motherwell) BELARUS Lesko (Dinamo Minsk); Tsiharav (Dinamo Minsk), Stashchanyuk (MTZ-Ripo Minsk); Liantsevich (Dinamo Minsk), Plaskonny (Shakhtyor Soligorsk), Maroz (Torpedo Zhodino) {Skverniuk (Krylya Sovetov Samara) 30} [Afanasyev (MTZ-Ripo Minsk) 68)]; Shkabara (Dinamo Moscow), Kornilenko (Dnipro Dnipropetrovesk), Hleb (MTZ-Ripo Minsk) {Paulau (Dnepr-Transmash Mogilev) 86}, Kontsevoi (MTZ-Ripo Minsk), Kovel (Dinamo Minsk) UNUSED SUBS Igor Logvinov (Shakhtyor Soligorsk), Sergei Mikhnyuk (MTZ-Ripo Minsk), Popei (MTZ-Ripo Mins k), Shchahrykovich (MTZ-Ripo Minsk), REFEREE Paulius Malzinskas (Lithuania)