Scotland 0 Republic of Ireland 2
Ireland emphasised the huge gap of 34 places between the two countries, in the FIFA rankings, with a comfortable victory over Scotland, 60th in that list, to give new boss Brian Kerr a winning start to his tenure as manager of the Republic.
Granted, Berti Vogts was not fielding a full strength side, but he was only a couple of faces short of the eleven that would, before this debacle, have faced Iceland but the manner in which his charges capitulated to the Irish must be a worry ahead of the forthcoming Euro 2004 qualifier against Eidur Gudjohnsen and co, particularly in the defensive department.
To compound the Scottish felony Ireland were missing, Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Gary Kelly, Shay Given and, of course, the other Keane, Roy.
Ireland got off to a flier with just nine minutes on the clock when Kevin Kilbane rose, unmarked, to head home a free-kick from Steven Reid. Eight minutes later the game was effectively over, as a contest, when Clinton Morrison doubled the lead. The Birmingham City striker volleyed home after Scots keeper Neil Sullivan failed to punch clear a lob from Mark Kinsella under pressure from Reid.
The visitors, obviously enjoying their marked superiority, indulged in a little showboating when they played 'keep ball' for lengthy periods in the first half and it was not until the final seconds of an embarrassing half that the Scots threatened the Irish goal. Even then Ferguson's header, from a Naysmith cross, was no problem for Dean Kiely.
Vogts made three changes for the second period, sending Gemmill, Gallacher and Devlin on for Don Hutchinson, Paul Lambert and Neil Sullivan. The Irish, not surprisingly were unchanged and Morrison almost made it 3-0 with a spectacular volley seconds after the restart but that went narrowly wide.
Scotland tried in vain to put a better complexion on the result but it was Ireland who almost added to the scoreline. But when Steven Carr fired in a superb 30-yarder Gallacher kept some respectability on the score with an excellent tip-over. It was a poor night for Scotland and Vogts who completes his first year in charge still waiting for a home victory.
Afterwards Clinton Morrison was as delighted for the new manager as he was for yet another international goal. He said: "We were really strong and started so well. Kevin took his goal well and I was lucky to make it 2-0 when I had the chance to score. It's a great start for the new manager and I think you could see that all the lads rallied around."
Brian Kerr was naturally a happy new manager, starting his career as an international manager with a victory. He beamed: "It was a satisfying effort. I thought the players kept a good shape and the goals were good. We were worthy winners. I was pleased with the players in all areas of the pitch."
As for the defeated manager, Vogts had no excuses for a poor Scotland performance, saying: "Really the Irish were too strong for us. They got off to a great start and the game was really over after 20 minutes as they raced into a 2-0 lead. The Republic have played well but for us I will have to look again at the performance."
