Mathie keen to end era on a high

ROSS Mathie will end 30 years of dedicated service for Scotland against England tomorrow night. And with live cameras in situ at the Caledonian Stadium for the Victory Shield showdown, the 65-year-old national coach is dreaming of a perfect ending.

The current Scotland under-16 team follow in the footsteps of such luminaries as Billy Bremner, Kenny Dalglish, Paul McStay and Darren Fletcher. They will try and seal a victory over England at this level for the first time since 1997. They drew 0-0 with Wales and lost 2-1 to Northern Ireland in their opening Shield games, but are looking to end the tournament on a high.

Mathie will give his final team talk after three decades, but insists the spotlight should not fall on him. The Scotland servant said: “In any game you play, you want to win. That’s all you think about.

“You want to be on the team bus coming away from the game when it is jumping and everybody’s smiling.

“If you lose, you travel back in absolute silence. I feel strongly it shouldn’t be about me on Friday. Yes, it’s my last game and I’ll cope with that. But what these young lads have to cope with is live television and the fact they are facing England.”