Republic of Ireland Under-21........................3
Scotland Under-21.......................................0
SCOTLAND's Under-21 side slumped to a 3-0 defeat in the opening match of a triangular tournament at Ballybofey, Co Donegal, yesterday.
Feynoord striker David Connolly put the Irish ahead after 12 minutes when he forced the ball home from close range after a one-two between Kevin Kilbane and Thomas Morgan. Shortly afterwards, Connolly went close to a second goal, but his header from a Kilbane cross was saved by Stenhousemuir goalkeeper Neil Alexander.
Scotland should have equalised before the break, with Motherwell's Lee McCulloch twice firing just over the crossbar, while another effort was pushed round the post by alert Irish goalkeeper Derek O'Connor.
The Irish always had the edge in the second half, although the pace of the match slackened considerably. Central defender Colin Hawkins made it 2-0 as he pounced on a mistake by Alexander, who fumbled a Kilbane corner.
Stockport's Steve Grant, a second-half substitute, fired in the third goal when he latched onto a fine pass from impressive Daryl Clare four minutes from time.
Scotland's best effort came in the final minute when a free kick from Rangers' Barry Ferguson flew inches wide.
Meanwhile, Leicester City's Emile Heskey turned from hero to villain as England crashed out of the Toulon Under-21 tournament in Manosque.
Heskey had scored in England's 1-1 draw with France in their opening Group A match and his double strike had paved the way for a 3-1 win over South Africa. However, the striker's poor control enabled Argentina to take a 2-0 lead after only 16 minutes.
It was an advantage Argentina never looked like relinquishing. England needed a draw to reach the semi-finals but got off to a bad start when Diego Quintano stabbed the ball past Ipswich goalkeeper Richard Wright after Juan Riquelme's pass had sliced open the England defence.
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