Coach Billy Stark claims Leigh Griffiths had the ball to thank for his wonderful goal which set Scotland Under-21s on their way to a 3-1 win over their Northern Ireland counterparts at Firhill last night.
When the Dundee striker took a Bradden Inman pass at the corner of the Irish box there looked no immediate danger for the visitors but he arrowed a left-footed drive past flailing Rangers keeper Wayne Drummond and in to the far corner of the net.
"It's that ball," said Stark. "If you have the skill and are prepared to have a shot at goal, that's the type of thing that can happen."
The Scotland manager added: "He's wrong-footed the goalkeeper because you thought he was going to hold it up until he got support. But he hit it early and accurately and the modern type of ball takes another bit of acceleration and that beat the goalkeeper.
"Maybe you would look to criticise the goalkeeper for Leigh scoring from there but when you see the way he hit it and how early he hit it, then maybe not."
Stark, rebuilding his squad for the next European Championship qualifying campaign which begins after the draw in February, was encouraged by the win but knows there is a long way to go.
He said: "It was a typical British game so that gives you particular problems to cope with. They were very lively as I thought they would be and so there were plenty of physical challenges and not enough time on the ball.
"So from that point of view it is difficult for the players coming in. There was some positive signs there but there are a lot of things we can do better.
"But we had two training sessions and that's not a lot of time to really get them doing what you want as a team.
"At 3-1 it flattered us maybe but we could make a case for edging the game, we certainly created some good opportunities in the second half."
Source: PA
