Scotland 1 - 0 Lithuania: Naismith goal seals narrow win to keep faint qualification hope alive

SCOTLAND’S chances of qualifying for the 2012 European Championships may be slim but at least the faint hope remains alive after the national side bounced back from the agony of Saturday’s draw against the Czech Republic to secure a narrow 1-0 victory over Lithuania at Hampden last night.

The Rangers winger Steven Naismith netted the only goal five minutes into the second half, to allay fears that the visitors could hold on for a draw.

A must-win game for Craig Levein’s men if they had any intention of retaining an interest in progressing to next summer’s showcase event in Poland and Ukraine, they eventually found their way through the stodgy Lithuanian rearguard when Barry Bannan’s cross into the area was slotted in off the inside of the post with a well-taken half-volley.

The diminutive Aston Villa attacker was one of four changes to the starting line up in the wake of Saturday’s upset. That day two controversial penalty decisions in the dying moments all but killed off the nation’s hopes of qualifying and there were fears that further spot-kick agony could blight last night’s performance. Tadas Labukas was punished for a handball in the box just minutes before half-time but skipper Darren Fletcher, who had scored his first goal in 30 international appearances against the Czech Republic, was profligate from the penalty mark, his effort saved by Zydrunas Karcemarskas, who guessed correctly to get down and block and set Tartan Army nerves on edge again.

But with 50 minutes gone, Phil Bardsley, David Goodwillie and Bannan combined to carve out the opening for Naismith. The midfielder’s last goal came in the 3-2 defeat at home to Spain last year but this time proved enough to guarantee Scotland their second victory of the campaign and ensure that they now travel to the final two fixtures, against Liechtenstein and Spain with qualification still arithmetically possible.

Scotland sit in third place in the group, two points behind the second-place Czechs, with both nations still to play two games each. The country who finish second to runaway group winners Spain will qualify for the play-offs, but Scotland must finish at least a point ahead of the Czechs to make it. If those two nations finish the campaign level on points, the Czechs would go through with a better record in their head-to-head matches.