Scotland U19s put five past Kazakhstan to gain first Euro qualification win

At a frosty Somerset Park, Scotland U19s asserted their dominance this afternoon.

The final score was 5-2 in Ayr as Scotland confidently won against Kazakhstan in Group H of the UEFA U19 European Championships qualifiers.

Coming into this game, both teams faced losses. At Firhill, the Scots were defeated by Iceland 1-0 whilst Kazakhstan conceded seven at Cappielow, as they were demolished by France.

From kick-off, Scotland were comfortably the stronger side and that showed just five minutes in. Rangers’ Robbie Ure opened the scoring, after some silky work from Manchester City’s Dire Mebude and Barry Hepburn of Bayern Munich.

From the opener, Scotland kept up the pressure, forcing tough work from the Kazakhstan defence and good stops from Miras Rikhard between the sticks. This slowly faded around halfway through the first half as Yan Trufanov nipped it in from a corner to make it 1-1.

Scotland didn’t look too confident after this, and chances weren’t being created. That was until Manchester City’s Josh Adam danced around the penalty area and laid it off to Matthew Anderson. The Celtic left-back let it rip and his effort fell over the Kazakhstan goalkeeper via a deflection.

Ure could’ve taken it to three before half-time, but his point-blank shot missed the frame of the goal, making it 2-1 to the hosts at the break.

To kick off the second half, Scotland – despite gaining momentum – didn’t start well. In the 61st minute, Sultan Askarov scored, equalising for the travelling Kazakhstan.

Straight from kick-off though, a long ball was played, and Jack Harkness got to it. He crossed it first time for Ure to get his second of the game and put Scotland back in front.

And from this point, Scotland didn’t look back. Their star man Adam, got the fourth to seal the game after his dominant creative performance. A Manchester City link-up between Adam and Mebude, from either side of the Old Firm, got the fourth for the hosts.

In the dying breaths of the game, Mebude got his goal to capitalise on his strong performance and make it five for the young team.

With their first win in this round of fixtures, Billy Stark’s boys look on to the match against France on Tuesday back at Somerset Park, in what is sure to be a tough test.

Scotland Player of the Match: Josh Adam

The 18-year-old midfielder worked tirelessly to create for his team and topped off his brilliant performance with a good goal for his country.

Referee: Georgi Davidov (BUL)