Scotland 0

SOME experiments lead to widespread benefits, others simply blow up the lab. The one conducted by Berti Vogts at Hampden Park last night could not be said to have been toying with the home chemistry set - it was supposed to be more advanced than that - but the Scots ended up with sooty faces.

From the moment Kevin Kilbane headed the Republic of Ireland into the lead, to be followed soon after by Clinton Morrison’s volleyed second, it was apparent that the resurgence Scotland had evinced in Reykjavik last October would not be nearly good enough against seasoned opponents with impressive credentials.

It did not take long for deep anxiety to infiltrate and upset the nervous system of the home supporters, with the visiting fans coincidentally flushed with bonhomie, quickly into a repertoire of songs that included a sarcasm directed at their former captain: "Are you watching, Roy Keane."

What the Manchester United midfielder was exhorted to heed was the ease with which Kilbane and Morrison delivered those early goals, emphasising a difference between the sides which must have caused Vogts to choke on his pre-match assertion that Scotland’s national team have made appreciable progress in the past 12 months.

While the Scots appeared uncertain and liverish, the Irish were full of conviction and full-blooded, comporting themselves like players who have been to the later stages of the World Cup finals and have grown into their own reputation.

During that period of almost casual domination, even the absence of such celebrated contributors as the injured Damien Duff and Robbie Keane could not disrupt the collective self-belief that coursed through Brian Kerr’s side. They were, it must be recognised, aided in their ascendancy by the shocking ineptitude of the Scots.

While Barry Ferguson, Paul Lambert and Neil McCann consistently failed to make any kind of impression in a midfield in the possession of Kilbane, Mark Kinsella, Matt Holland and Stephen Reid, the hesitancy and general sluggishness of the defenders, starting with Neil Sullivan on the goal line, encouraged the notion that the Irish, especially during the first half, operated at a higher level.

The decision to play Sullivan was curious, considering the fuss Vogts had made of the Spurs goalkeeper’s lack of first-team practice for the past few months. It was a selection that proved to be ill-judged when Sullivan basically surrendered the second goal through lack of confidence.

It should be said that most referees would have awarded him a free-kick as Reid, bolting forward to challenge for the long, high lob from Kinsella, arrived after Sullivan had feebly punched the ball out and knocked the goalkeeper to the ground. In any other area of the field, it would have been considered late and punishable.

But that could not disguise the dreadful attempt by Sullivan - who clearly had one eye on Reid - to clear. The ball fell to the left foot of Morrison, who volleyed it past him from the edge of the area. That was merely confirmation of the superiority the visitors had established from the earliest minutes.

The first piece of damage came from the free-kick awarded for Russell Anderson’s clumsy and needless challenge on Morrison out on the Irish left. Morrison himself whipped a wicked free-kick towards the area and Kilbane, utterly without challenge from opponents who appeared petrified, glanced the header far to the left of Sullivan from 12 yards.

If Sullivan was still in possession of his senses, he would have been on his way to the airport by the time his deputy, Paul Gallacher, emerged from the tunnel at the start of the second half, joined by fellow substitutes Paul Devlin (for the clearly-rusty Don Hutchison) and Scot Gemmill (for the peripheral Lambert).

In which case, the Tottenham goalkeeper would avoid the shame he might have felt at witnessing Gallacher’s exceptional save, leaping high to his left, from a brilliantly accurate and powerful 25-yard drive from Stephen Carr. It was the first instance in the game of a Scottish player carrying out a splendid piece of work.

But, although it occurred as early as the 54th minute, it was not even the first menacing moment contrived by the Irish after the interval. This was executed by Morrison, who took a header from Holland on the turn and, right-footed, hit a volley which curled the ball marginally wide of Gallacher’s right-hand post.

Unsurprisingly, Kerr did not interfere with his line-up during the break, understandably reasoning that, in his first international as manager, there was no point in risking disruption to a performance that could not have been a more exhilarating start to his career.

Whether or not Vogts had an "understanding" with Martin O’Neill and Alex Mcleish - that he would not over-tax the Old Firm players - the removal of Lambert at half-time and of Ferguson and McCann, replaced by Colin Cameron and Jamie Smith respectively, in the 65th minute would have been justified by their largely anonymous performances.

Devlin’s earlier arrival brought some pace and inventiveness to the Scots’ right flank on a night when it had seemed that both qualities had been banned from the home side. But it was too little, too late.

Scotland: Sullivan (Gallacher 45), Caldwell, Anderson, Dailly, Graham Alexander, Lambert (Gemmill 45), Ferguson (Cameron 65), Naysmith, McCann (Smith 65), Crawford (Thompson 65), Hutchison (Devlin 45).
Subs Not Used: Miller, Dobie, Kyle, McNamara, Neil Alexander, Malcolm.

Rep of Ireland: Kiely (Colgan 82), Carr, O'Shea (Dunne 81), Breen (O'Brien 90), Harte, Reid (Healy 78), Holland, Kinsella (Carsley 78), Kilbane, Morrison, Doherty (Connolly 73). Subs Not Used: Maybury, McPhail, Barrett.

Manager Berti Vogts was left rueing his side's frustrating habit of conceding early goals, as he watched Scotland slump to yet another defeat. Two goals inside the opening 16 minutes, from Kevin Kilbane and Clinton Morrison, gave the Republic of Ireland a comfortable win at Hampden and made it seven defeats out of 10 during Vogts' reign. The German has now been in charge of Scotland for a year and he has already seen his side embarrassed by the loss of early soft goals in the Faroe Islands and Portugal.

However, Vogts insisted an improved second-half performance gave him real hope that there will be no similar slip-ups when Iceland visit the national stadium next month for a vital Euro 2004 qualifier. "After 16 minutes we had made two mistakes," said Vogts. "The first goal was a mistake and the second too and after that the game was over. The Republic of Ireland are a strong team and played like they were the home team with a lot of confidence and a lot of experience. They played in the World Cup and we are number 60 in the world rankings so it was not easy but we didn't play very well, especially in the first half."

Scotland enjoyed the bulk of possession after the break, with substitute Paul Devlin showing up well and Vogts was pleased with the Birmingham man's contribution. He said: "In the second half it was okay. We changed the system a little bit and Paul Devlin did a good job." Vogts had also taken off goalkeeper Neil Sullivan after the Tottenham man had been at fault for the second goal when he punched only as far as Morrison on the edge of the area. Paul Gallacher replaced him at half time, but Vogts refused to blame his former first choice pick, who now seems to have little chance of playing in the Iceland game and is second choice at Spurs too.

"Paul Gallacher looked a little bit more confident. That is a problem with the goalies, they need a lot of practice," he said. "I don't blame Neil. All together we lost the game. Neil is a good goalie and it was not his fault we lost the game. We didn't do enough and we will have to do more on the 29 March when we play Iceland." The German also insisted there had been other plus points from a very disappointing night that saw the Scots struggle to find any attacking ryhthm. He said: "I saw Don (Hutchison) for 45 minutes and in the second half we played with two players on the wing and it was a little bit better."

Devlin's delight at Hampden debut

PAUL DEVLIN today described his Hampden debut as the proudest night of his life, despite Scotland’s 2-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland. The Birmingham City midfielder, whose father hails from Coatbridge, had a 30-strong contingent of friends and family at the National Stadium to see him earn his third cap.

Despite his thick Brummie accent, the wide man has a genuine passion for wearing the dark blue and it showed in his gutsy contribution in the second period. While so many of his team-mates seemed reluctant to take responsibility on the ball, Devlin sought every opportunity to run at the Irish defence and put over crosses, the crowd soon warming to his direct style down the right flank.

Despite only being on the pitch for 45 minutes he earned the sponsors’ man of the match, to round off a memorable night. He said: "Playing at Hampden has always been a dream of mine and to finally achieve that made the match the proudest night of my career. I had 30-odd people in the stand watching me and it cost me an absolute fortune to make sure they could all be here. There were 23 of the clan from up here and a further seven flew up from down south. I hope it was worth it for them but it’s a big disappointment to have lost the game."

Devlin was heartened by the way the Tartan Army have taken to his swashbuckling style and there was a palpable sense of anticipation whenever he took possession of the ball. More importantly, though, the 30-year-old believes the fans’ loyalty and willingness to back the team in the toughest of circumstances will be needed when Berti Vogts’ side resume their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign at home to Iceland next month.

He continued: "People like to see players taking defenders on and it was good to hear the crowd get behind me. It’s not just me, though, they stayed with the whole team even though we were losing. We’ll need their support when the qualifying campaign gets going again because they can certainly lift the side."

At the end of the match, Devlin swapped jerseys with Blues team-mate Clinton Morrison - scorer of Ireland’s second goal - and he is expecting his fair share of abuse when the pair reconvene at St Andrews. He added: "I think Clinton will have a few words to say when I see him at training. No doubt I’ll get a bit of stick but I can’t really complain about that. He took his goal well and it’s fair to say that over the piece they deserved to win. The fact we conceded two goals so early on was always going to make it very difficult to get a result."