Match Day: Scotland 0:0 Northern Ireland

A crowd of just over 28,000 watched Scotland play Northern Ireland at Hampden last night in a game that will quickly be consigned to the more forgettable games in our nations recent past.

If you asked anyone from outside these Islands to imagine what a typical international between any of the four 'home nations' was like, they'd probably say things like 'scrappy', 'passionate', 'physical' and 'end to end'. And they would pretty much be describing the game on show at Hampden yesterday evening.

It's not that it was a bad game particularly, in fact, Scotland played some nice football, the passing and movement wasn't bad, but for all their effort, Scotland didn't have too many clear chances on goal and as the game went on, it became increasingly unclear just where the goals where going to come from. McFadden looked dangerous at times, but he was marked closely throughout; his best chance came from an Alexander cross when he sidestepped Ryan McGivern and fired towards the Northern Ireland goal, but without any real power behind the shot, the score remained at 0:0. Indeed, it was Northern Ireland who could - should - have won the game when Allen McGregor, a second half substitute for Craig Gordon brought down Dundee United's Warren Feeney. McGregor made amends for his error when he saved David Healy's spot kick, diving smartly to his right to palm the ball clear from danger.

[caption id="attachment_1661" align="alignright" width="120" caption="Time is running out for Burley"][/caption]

Overall, it was a disappointing night for Burley and the Scotland following. We'd have hoped (indeed, we predicted) that Scotland would come away with a win here, but it was not to be, even after Northern Ireland where reduced to 10 men following McGivern's foul on Brown. We wonder how McFadden and Steven Fletcher might have worked up front, or even Fletcher-Clarkson, rather than Kenny Miller who has failed to impress us so far. There were some positives to take from the game however. Kris Commons, making his debut in a dark blue shirt played well after he come on in the second half for James Morrison. Though not naturally a left-sided winger (he's a right-winger at Derby) he put in some nice crosses and showed some good footwork and pace. The Brown-Thomson partnership in the center of the midfield looks promising and Christophe Berra and Darren Barr both made adequate if not desperately noteworthy appearances in the second half, taking over from Weir and McManus respectively, perhaps offering us a view of a central defensive future under George Burley.

With no more games until the first of the World Cup Qualifiers in September, this was the last chance to tinker with the lineup before the real action begins. If we had to give this game a verdict it'd be this: adequate, if unspectacular - must do better.