U19s: Scotland top group after Feruz hat-trick
By Danny Collins at The Falkirk Stadium:A stunning second half hat-trick from Islam Feruz was the difference in a thrilling game which seen Scotland under 19s beat Switzerland 4-3 at The Falkirk Stadium.
The game turned into the ‘Islam Feruz show’ as the young striker hit three goals to sink the young Swiss side. A goal from Joe Chalmers was also the difference as Scotland progressed into the elite round.
Scotland started the brighter of the two sides, putting the Swiss defence under a lot of pressure with a series of consecutive corners.
The Swiss came into the game however and started causing Scotland a number of problems, the young winger Adili, cut inside on his left foot and his powerful shot just inched over the bar.
Scots defender Marcus Fraser was at the rescue two minutes late, as from Adili’s corner, a powerful header of Michael Frey looked goal-bound, however Fraser was at hand to clear the strikers attempt off the line.
Straight from this scare, Scotland went straight up the pitch and broke the deadlock. A cynical foul on Gauld gave Celtic defender Joe Chalmers the chance to shoot from the resulting free-kick. Chalmers brilliantly bulleted the free-kick into the top right hand corner giving the keeper Nganoma no chance.
The lead didn’t last long though as Switzerland hit back shortly after, some neat foot-work from Adili skipping past two defenders resulted in a shot which couldn’t be held by from goalkeeper Phillip Anderson, nobody picked up Swiss striker Michael Frey as he pounced and coolly slotted home the equaliser.
As half time drew closer, the Swiss began to take advantage of keeping the ball. Michael Frey picked up the ball wide on the left and with two stepovers, he danced past the right back, his low cross across the six-yard box was met by Thibault Corbaz who simply directed the ball past helpless goalkeeper Anderson.
The second half started strongly with both teams flying out their traps; however it was Switzerland who came closest first. Winger Khelifi drove inside the pitch from the left, and hit a powerful shot which just goes past the post.
Scotland scored the much needed equaliser back when a sublime cross by Joe Chalmers was met by the young Chelsea striker Feruz; his well-placed header directed into the corner gave Nganoma no chance whatsoever.
However, Switzerland went back in front minutes after. A powerful run through the heart of the midfield by Khelifi created space for the striker Frey. A pinpoint through ball to him and a first time left footed shot across Anderson proved too strong for Scots keeper.
Scotland seemed to lift themselves immediately after this goal, a close chance from Marcus Fraser seen his effort curl just past the post.
After some good link up play between Kennedy and Feruz, substitute Lewis McLeod then seen his first time effort crash off the underside of the bar.
The Scots seemed the hungrier of the two teams for a victory and they were rewarded with a goal for their efforts. Some tenacious play by John Herron in the middle of the park to regain possession allowed him to find Feruz with a pass. Feruz then took a touch out of his feet and drove the ball with his left foot across the keeper from a tight angle.
The game was won seven minutes from the end; Matthew Kennedy played the ball inside from the right to Aberdeen youngster Cameron Smith, who then played a pass to Feruz. Feruz brilliantly rolled the ball out of his feet and curled his shot into the top right hand corner. It was a truly sensational strike from the young Chelsea forward which left him with a perfect hat-trick to his name.
Romania vs. Armenia
By Andrew Winn at New Douglas Park:
A late goal from forward Darius Buia was enough to secure a Romania victory over a determined Armenian side in their final group nine qualifying match at New Douglas Park.
A late goal from forward Darius Buia was enough to secure a Romania victory over a determined Armenian side in their final group nine qualifying match at New Douglas Park.
Buia, playing as part of a three-man attack for the Romanians, headed home substitute Denis Lemac’s cross in the 82nd minute.
Prior to the game, Romania were the only side of the two still with a chance of capturing automatic qualification, however this would rely on the other match between Scotland and Switzerland falling in their favour.
Armenia, who lost both of their previous games by 4-0 scorelines, started the match positively, hoping to end their qualification matches on a high. They kept faith in goalkeeper Gevorg Harutyunyan; however he was soon to become the busier of the two goalkeepers, with all of the early chances falling to Romania.
Claudiu Bumba had two early chances to start the scoring, hitting the bar with a right-foot strike after just six minutes, whilst a follow-up effort five minutes later flew harmlessly over the Armenian goal.
Despite enjoying the majority of possession inside the Armenian half, the Romanians could not capitalise; attacking midfielder Rares Enceanu had two chances on goal, without forcing a save from the opposition goalkeeper. Wide players Steliano Filip and Bumba were the busier of the forward line, hoping to wear down the Armenian full-backs Artur Petrosyan and Davit Levonyan, without joy.
The second half saw Armenia enjoy more possession; lone-forward Hovannes Matshkalyan was isolated at times during the first 45 minutes, however with more support in the second half, Armenia were able to create chances of their own.
Their best effort came after 73 minutes, and fell to their most impressive player on the day, Aghvan Papikyan. After a defence-splitting pass, the forward found himself bearing down on the Romanian goal, however his shot sailed high and wide.
This was to prove crucial, as just nine minutes later, Romania were finally able to wear down a tired Armenian defence to score the only goal of the game, and place themselves in the running for the best 3rd place finishers.
Romania: Pap, Balasa, Neag, Tiru (c), Dan, Enceanu (Bic 46), Rosu (Vodut 56), Mitache, Filip, Buia, Bumba (Lemac 63)
Subs: Serban, Schuller, Antoniu, Puscas
Armenia: Harutyunyan, Minasyan, Shakhnazaryan, Malakyan (c), Loretsyan, Petrosyan (Shahinyan 83), Papikyan, Bakalyan (Yeganyan 72), Levonyan, Kocharyan, Machkalyan (Zohrabyan 65)
Subs: Karapetian, Zakaryan, Ananyan, Ayvazyan
Referee: Vlado Glodjovic (SRB)
Prior to the game, Romania were the only side of the two still with a chance of capturing automatic qualification, however this would rely on the other match between Scotland and Switzerland falling in their favour.
Armenia, who lost both of their previous games by 4-0 scorelines, started the match positively, hoping to end their qualification matches on a high. They kept faith in goalkeeper Gevorg Harutyunyan; however he was soon to become the busier of the two goalkeepers, with all of the early chances falling to Romania.
Claudiu Bumba had two early chances to start the scoring, hitting the bar with a right-foot strike after just six minutes, whilst a follow-up effort five minutes later flew harmlessly over the Armenian goal.
Despite enjoying the majority of possession inside the Armenian half, the Romanians could not capitalise; attacking midfielder Rares Enceanu had two chances on goal, without forcing a save from the opposition goalkeeper. Wide players Steliano Filip and Bumba were the busier of the forward line, hoping to wear down the Armenian full-backs Artur Petrosyan and Davit Levonyan, without joy.
The second half saw Armenia enjoy more possession; lone-forward Hovannes Matshkalyan was isolated at times during the first 45 minutes, however with more support in the second half, Armenia were able to create chances of their own.
Their best effort came after 73 minutes, and fell to their most impressive player on the day, Aghvan Papikyan. After a defence-splitting pass, the forward found himself bearing down on the Romanian goal, however his shot sailed high and wide.
This was to prove crucial, as just nine minutes later, Romania were finally able to wear down a tired Armenian defence to score the only goal of the game, and place themselves in the running for the best 3rd place finishers.
Romania: Pap, Balasa, Neag, Tiru (c), Dan, Enceanu (Bic 46), Rosu (Vodut 56), Mitache, Filip, Buia, Bumba (Lemac 63)
Subs: Serban, Schuller, Antoniu, Puscas
Armenia: Harutyunyan, Minasyan, Shakhnazaryan, Malakyan (c), Loretsyan, Petrosyan (Shahinyan 83), Papikyan, Bakalyan (Yeganyan 72), Levonyan, Kocharyan, Machkalyan (Zohrabyan 65)
Subs: Karapetian, Zakaryan, Ananyan, Ayvazyan
Referee: Vlado Glodjovic (SRB)
Scotland 1-0 Romania
By Cheryl Smith at the Falkirk Stadium:
Scotland under 19s secured their path to the Elite round of the European Championships after a hard fought 1-0 victory over Romania.
A single first half goal by Celtic youngster John Herron was enough to ensure Ricky Sbragia’s boys qualification and the coach was delighted with his team’s performance.
He said: “We knew Romania were a good team, we’re the first team to have beaten them for two years. We got the goal at the right time and it was fantastic”.
The torrential downpour before kick-off didn’t ease up and the conditions worsened throughout the match, the slippery surface making it difficult for either side to control the ball on the ground. The match started at a fairly high tempo with the first 20 minutes being a middle field battle for control of the play. The first chance of the game fell to the home side with a Ryan Fraser cross into the box, after a whizzing run down the left, only for the ball to be cleared by the Romanian defence.
Romania sat deep in their own half for much of the first half, there first break up the pitch came in the form of a 20 yard shot by Claudiu Bumba. The Romanian cut inside from the left, with the shot flying narrowly over Jack Hamilton’s goal. Both teams battled to find an opening in the game, Scotland winning a free kick on the edge of the box after a foul on Islam Feruz. The Chelsea youngster fired the shot narrowly over the Romanian goal. The away side replied with a dangerous cross into the Scotland box through Steliano Filip which Jack Hamilton had to punch to safety.
The breakthrough came on the 43rd minute when Rangers youngster Barrie McKay played a precise through ball into the box for Herron who struck low and hard past George Serban into the Romanian goal. The strike coming at the right time for Sbragia’s team.
Romania began the 2nd half looking to pull a goal back after the disappointment of losing a late first half goal. Steliano Filip came closest for Adrian Vasii’s side when he shot low from the right causing Scotland stopper Hamilton into a first class save. Hamilton was tested again minutes later with a Mihai Vodut shot from 25 yards out, which flew over the Scotland goal.
Islam Feruz was a constant menace to the Romanian back line with his jinking runs, which almost paid off when the striker beat 3 Romanian players, only to shoot wide of the goal into the away team’s side netting. As the rain continued to beat down on the Falkirk pitch the home side could have doubled their lead with a Marcus Fraser header only for goalkeeper George Serban to clear the ball off the line. Chelsea star Feruz was once again at the heart of Scotland’s attacking play when he hit a solid strike 15 yards out; the ball skidded off the wet pitch and wide of the Romanian goal.
Scotland: Hamilton (Gk), Chalmers, Findlay, M.Fraser (Cpt), Grimmer, Herron, MacLeod, Petrie, Feruz (Reilly, 80), R.Fraser (Kennedy, 54), McKay.
Unused subs: Anderson (Gk), Kingsley, Smith.
Romania: Serban (Gk), Balasa, Schuller, Tiru (Cpt), Anitoiu, Dan, Puscas (Rosu, 56), Enceanu (Buia, 46), Vodut (Bic, 66), Filip, Bumba
Unused subs: Pap (Gk), Neag, Mitache, Lemac
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