SCOTS LEAVE POLES BHIND

WALTER SMITH'S glimpse of the future included two good goals from Gary McDonald and Lee Miller in a comfortable win.

But the Scotland boss will have seen little to persuade him that he should be thinking of altering the personnel in his full international squad.

Scotland were superior to their Polish counterparts and that will have to be enough of an addition to the learning curve for these hopefuls for the time being.

A full complement of17players was used by Smith. The last of the subs came on when Christophe Berra made a belated appearance for Adam Virgo, a swop which symbolised a night when discovery mattered more than a win or outstanding display.

However, Scotland victories at any level should never be dismissed as an irrelevance. At least the game was lively enough to keep hypothermia at bay for those who had forsaken warm surroundings and live TV coverage of the Champions League Smith said the night was about muchmore than the size of the crowd and that was just as well as the attendancewasaslowasthetemperature that greeted the two teams.

Four of the handful of Kilmarnock players chosen to represent their country on their home ground started with keeper Alan Combe on the bench.

Underfoot conditions were on the treacherous side but there was an obvious willingness on the part of both teams to be positive.

With all the players desperate to show their potential to play for the full side, Kris Boyd was even willing to work a defensive shift on top of his attacking responsibilities.

The Killie striker cleared away the Pole's first corner of the game. And he was a formidable physical presence when he reverted to his more familiar role as Wigan's Gary Teale attempted to find him with a series of well-placed crosses.

However, Sheffield United's Nick Montgomery was first to force the Polish keeper into a save, after 18 minutes, unleashing a shot from 20 yards as the defence backed off.

Montgomery then turned chance-maker by threading the ball between Boyd and his Killie clubmate McDonald. The latter promptly stuck the ball into the net only for the assistant referee to raise his flag for offside.

The Scots then had a narrow escape. Good close control from Maciej Iwanski took him deep into the penalty box and he went for an angular shot beyond David Marshall at his left-hand post. The ball was in flight across the face of goal when Celtic's Virgo struck it against his own post as he tried to clear.

The risk with auditions is anxiety can become a factor and Teale showed the nerves were getting to him when he snatched at a chance in front of goal. McDonald enjoyed a supreme moment of personal satisfaction in the 39th minute when he finally broke the deadlock. The Killie midfielder's initial shot was well parried away by the keeper for a corner that was taken by former Ayr wide man Teale.

The inswinger found McDonald's head and his earlier exasperation at being denied a goal turned to elation whenhe roseabovethe Polishdefence to nod into the back of the net However, the scorer's reward was to beleftinthedressingroomathalf-time along with Darryl Duffy and Marshall.

Combe, Jamie McAllister of Hearts and Miller took their places and within three minutes of the restart Scotland extended their lead through the Dundee United forward.

Teale's cross fell to Boyd and as he was tackled inside the six-yard box the ball broke to Miller. His finish was composure personified and his enjoyment of the moment wouldn't have been spoiled by the fact the stadium announcer credited Ross Wallace with the strike even though the Celtic player was still wrapped up warm on the bench.

With a comfortable lead established Scotland could now knock the ball around in a relaxed fashion.

Boyd was desperate to cap a hard-working performance with a goal and the striker's frustration would only havebeen raised a notch when he was adjudged offside when through in a good position.

By the time Wallace replaced Garry Hay and Mark Kerr came on for Barry Robson in the 63rd minute, the night had started to take on an even more experimental air with the meaningful work already done and assessed by the manager

Taken from the Daily Record