Billy Stark happy with Scotland U21s' battling draw

Scotland Under-21 coach Billy Stark declared himself satisfied with yesterday's 1-1 draw in Belarus, which keeps his team's European Championship qualifying hopes in their own hands.

Chris Maguire's second-half penalty kept Scotland in second place in their group ahead of Belarus and behind Austria.

All three teams have 14 points ahead of the final fixtures for each, but Scotland will finish above Belarus if they beat the Austrians in Aberdeen on Tuesday, courtesy of their 1-0 home win against them in Paisley last year.

With head-to-head records the deciding factor, a draw at Pittodrie would leave Austria above Scotland following their home win over Stark's men.

Second place could also see Scotland qualify for the play-offs as one of the best runners-up. But, with Belarus hosting Azerbaijan on the same day, Scotland realistically must win to book their passage.

Stark said: "It's a good result for us. We had prepared well for the game and we knew the Belarusian team is very strong."

Scotland did well in the early stages with Barry Bannan firing just over after a set-piece and Hibs' David Wotherspoon denied by a combination of defender and goalkeeper. But Stark's men fell behind in the 36th minute when Vladimir Yurchenko beat three men before drilling the ball across goal for Pavel Nekhaychik to blast home. Stark made a double substitution early in the second half with James Forrest and David Goodwillie coming on for Jamie Murphy and Bannan and a new attacking zeal soon allowed them to level.

Paul Coutts was brought down in the box and Maguire stepped up to convert the 64th-minute penalty.