Scotland U16s 1-2 Poland U16s

By Colette Carr at Fir Park:

Scotland's U16s were beaten 2-1 by a strong Polish side in the Vauxhall International Challenge Match at Fir Park on Tuesday.  

Scotland sub Calvin Miller converted a late penalty after being brought down in the area, however, it wasn't enough to match goals from Damian Dudala and Eryk Wiedlocha.

Scotland started brightly, building up from the back, taking the ball up the park, with winger Daniel Armstrong frequently skipping past the polish left back to arrive at the byline.  Scotland looked to have grabbed an early lead, after Armstrong whipped a low ball into the box, however, keeper Bartloniej Dragowski dived out to prevent Ruben Sammut from finishing.

It only took 15 minutes for the first clear chance of the game to come.  Michal Walski almost put the visitors in front with a blazing strike from twenty yards bouncing off the woodwork.  Poland threatened again a moment later, Filip Jagiello's effort slipping just over the crossbar.

Despite beginning to struggle against the physical side, Ciaran Lafferty found a long ball at the edge of the 18 yard box, however his resulting effort was parried away by Dragowski.

The Poles broke the deadlock on 21 minutes, Jagiello's free kick form the left wing met by the head of Dudala, after a heavy tackle from Armstrong.  

After an excellent cross into the Scottish box,  keeper Robby McCrory took command of his box, standing up to punch the ball out, before Lafferty ushered the ball to safety.  Poland again worked their way into McCrory's box, but Adam Ryczkowski miskicked Milos Kozak's cross, allowing McCrory to make easy work of it.

At the half hour mark, Armstrong had the opportunity to bring the game back to level terms, his free kick from twenty yards headed away.

Scotland found themselves in an excellent position, however, the great counter attack from Lafferty and Greg Kiltie ended with Kiltie's blast just too high.

Scotland looked determined at the restart, immediately blazing up the park, Aidan Nesbitt's ball to Kiltie cut the attack short, however, being ruled offside.  Wotte's three changes at half time's presence was felt straight away, the positive substitutions' impact catching the Polish boys off guard.

Handling the physical team far better, the Scots began to pile on the pressure, long range efforts from sub Calvin Miller, saved comfortably on each occasion however.  

Nesbitt again pressed forward, his strike was pushed away by the keeper however.  Shortly after, Scoland had another great opportunity, as they won a free kick from forty yards, the expert ball headed just wide.  

Poland doubled the lead however after 61 minutes, Wiedlocha chipping the ball over McCrorie and rolling towards the open goal.

A feel of panic seemed to spread through the hosts, but they responded well, Sam Wardrop exploding through the middle, taking the ball into the box before his shot was blocked by Dragowski.  

Poland tested the Scotland keeper again, on the 70th minute, as a deadball from 25 yards, forced an incredible stop from McCrory.

The Scots again found themselves on the backfoot, but on the 73rd minute mark, after being brought down by Dragowski, Miller slotted the resulting penalty coolly into the bottom corner.  

Despite the Scottish comeback, Poland played out the rest of the game with Kozak constantly threatening the Scottish goal, before the game ended, Scotland beginning their Sky Sports Victory Shield campaign against Wales on the back of a defeat.

Scotland Teamline; Robby McCrorie, Jack Alexander, Adam Hodge, Sam Wardrop, Michael Kelly, Aaron Scott, Daniel Armstrong, Ruben Sammut, Ciaran Lafferty, Greg Kiltie, Aidan Nesbitt, Conor Cullen, Dylan Pooler, Steven Boyd, Kyle Spence, Ross Finnie, Craig Wighton, Calvin Miller, Richie Petrie, Owen Connelly

Poland Teamline; Bartloniej Dragowski, Bartosz Skowran, Damian Dudala, Daniel Choros, Marcin Galkowski, Michal Walski, Adam Ryczkowski, Milosz Kozak, Eryk Wiedlocha, Adrian Szady, Pawel Marczuk, Patryk Litynski, Adrian Gapczynski, Damian Zagorski, Maciej Kwasigroch, Karol Swiderski