Scotland schoolboys lose to England at Cappielow

Scotland Schoolboy Under-18s 1 – 5 England Schoolboy Under-18s

N. Brown (90+2)  – Adjei (3, 34, 66, 68), Short (54)

A crowd of 719 supporters turned out at Cappielow last night as Scotland Schoolboys lost 5-1 to their English counterparts in a one-sided Centenary Shield fixture.

England forward Kingsford Adjei was in red-hot form on a freezing cold night at the Greenock ground, scoring four times to fire his side to victory.

Adjei rifled a loose ball into the net from close range to opening the scoring with just three minutes played and swept home Jean Luc Ramdin’s low cross from the right to double his tally just after the half-hour mark.

Hartlepool College pupil Connor Short added a third in the 54th minute when he slammed into the from six yards after he was picked it by another low centre from the right flank.

The Scotland defence’s failure to adequately clear their lines presented Adjei with the perfect chance to complete his hat-trick on 66 minutes, and he made no mistake, slipping an ice-cool finish past goalkeeper Ross Connelly.

A rampant Adjei made it four for the night just two minutes later when he popped up unmarked inside the box to divert Henry Watson’s looped cross between the sticks with a controlled volley.

England substitute Max Watters passed up a chance to stretch the lead to 6-0 when he cracked the base of the left-hand post with a penalty, while Hamilton shot-stopper Connelly made a fantastic save to thwart Jack Cooper on the follow up.

However, the home support gathered in the mainstand were finally given something to cheer when Scots sub Nathan Brown met Declan Glass’s free-kick with a thumping header to net an injury-time consolation.

Despite the disappointing result, this Auld Enemy clash was a fantastic occasion that everyone at the club was proud to be able to support by staging the match.

Scotland: 1. Connelly, 2. Stanger (14. N. Brown, 70), 3. Kirkwood, 4. Banner (c), 5. Kelly, 6. Bruce (16. McGrory, 61), 7. Reilly, 8. Chapman (15. Ballantyne, 61), 9. Sweeney (17. O’Reilly, 46), 10. Glass, 11. Dunne (18. A. Brown, 46).

Subs not used: 12. Fallens, 13. Bollan (gk).

England: 1. Stone, 2. Ramdin, 3. O’Halloran, 4. Mohammed, 5. Bayliss (12. Staten, 71), 6. Ngalo, 10. Short, 11. Barlow (8. Cooper, 74), 14. Adjei, 15. Watson, 16. Butler (7. Watters.

Subs not used: 12. Fallens, 13. Bollan (gk).

Referee: Barry Cook

Attendance: 719

Image (main): Gary Bradley

Images (inset): Ross Cameron