Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland

Opponents > Republic of Ireland > Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland, 2014

Scotland went into this game knowing that it would go a long way to determining who would qualify for the finals.  It was the Irish who started brighter, with Marshall saving a shot by Walters after only two minutes.  Just after the half hour mark, Scotland should have taken the lead, when Maloney played a ball into the box to Mulgrew who had a powerful header go wide.  Five minutes later, Steven Whittaker had a low shot saved by Forde.  Ten minutes into the second half, Marshall made a save from a close range header from Shane Long.  A few minutes later, Marshall made a great save from a low shot by McGeady.  Ten minutes later, substitute Chris Martin came close to giving Scotland the lead when his shot from a Naismith pass went just past the post.  With 17 minutes remaining, Jonathan Walters came close to scoring an own goal when he headed a Mulgrew free-kick onto his own bar and behind to give Scotland a corner.  From the resulting corner, Scotland played a move straight from the training ground when Maloney hit a short corner to Anya, who passed pack to Maloney. Maloney then passed to Scott Brown, who back-heeled the ball back into Maloney's path.  Maloney then curled a great shot into the far right corner to give Scotland a valuable 1-0 lead.  Ireland came close to an equaliser when Grant Hanley headed a Brady free-kick against his own bar.  Scotland held on though to gain a valuable well fought out victory against their close rivals in front of 60,000.  Up next is a game against England.