Scotland Under-19 0-3 England Under-19

SCOTLAND under-19s were handed a lesson by the Auld Enemy as a huge gulf in class between the young sides was exposed in the final game of the Euro Elite round in Belgium.

Scorers: England Under-19 - Coulthirst (17), Baker (33 pen), Akpom (74)

Ricky Sbragia’s kids were hammered by England and failed to muster a single shot on target as they slumped to the bottom of group six in Westerlo last night, which was surprisingly won by Georgia, who qualify for the finals in Lithuania.

Manager Ricky Sbragia admitted he had no complaints after accepting the gulf in class between the teams was “absolutely miles”.

He said: “I thought today was men v boys. We gave the ball away too much but, even with that, they overran us in general. We didn’t have a particularly good campaign but that’s football and I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I think we were well beaten today.

“They dominated every area of the pitch. The last ten minutes showed how good they were and they even took their foot of the gas a little bit. We couldn’t get out and we kept giving the ball away. We’ve got so many of our players playing in the SPL and they’ve looked ordinary against this lot.”

The pattern was set early on and it was no surprise when the English took a 17th minute lead when Spurs kid Shaquile Coulthirst latched onto a pass by Newcastle United’s Adam Campbell and gave Reading goalkeeper Jonny Henley no chance with a composed finish.

Dundee United’s Ryan Gauld tried to draw the Scots level when he slid in at the back post in a bid to connect with John Herron’s free kick, but he couldn’t quite direct the ball on target from an acute angle.

England doubled their advantage in the 33rd minute when Henley brought down Newcastle United’s Adam Campbell after spilling the ball when sliding out for it and Chelsea’s Lewis Baker tucked home the resulting spot kick.

It was damage limitation for Scotland in the second half and they at least defended better, despite England completely dominating.

Celtic’s John Herron almost grabbed a consolation with a header which floated wide.

Arsenal’s Chuba Akpom slotted home the third with 16 minutes left and the Scots were just pleased when the Spanish refere ended a tough evening.

Scotland Under-19: Henley; Grimmer, Davey, Souttar, O’Hara; McGinn (Lindsay 70), Gauld (Kennedy 70), Herron; King, McManus (Beck 56), Fraser.

England Under-19: Pickford; Browning, Baker, O’Connell, Webster; Wallace (Pearson 53), Campbell, Swift, Murphy (Chambers 62); Akpom, Coulthirst (Harriet 74).

Referee: C Grande (Spain)