Scots turn on the style against Albania
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Article summary
Scotland 5-2 Albania
David Godwillie, Chris McGuire, Andrew Shinnie, Jamie Murphy and Stephen McGinn registered in an emphatic success for Billy Stark's young Scotland.
Article top media content
Article body
Scotland put themselves in pole position to qualify for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs with their second win in five days against Albania.
Head start
David Godwillie opened the scoring nine minutes before half-time and further second half strikes from Chris McGuire, Andrew Shinnie, Jamie Murphy and Stephen McGinn gave the young Scots an emphatic 5-2 victory at the Falkirk Stadium. The result, coupled with their 1-0 win over Albania last Saturday in Elbasan, means that Billy Stark's side have six points from their opening two fixtures in qualifying Group 10 giving them a head start on rivals Azerbaijan, Austria and Belarus, who have yet to start their campaigns.
'Work to be done'
"We are thrilled," Stark told uefa.com. "It was a gamble for us to take these games so early on but we had confidence in the players and that has been more than justified. Albania didn't do themselves justice but it was a fantastic win and the boys can be so pleased with the way we've taken care of these two games. However, we're not getting carried away because there's still a lot of work to be done."