Wales 2 Scotland 1

From ROBERT GRIEVE in Cardiff
Last Updated: 13th October 2012

GRANTED Bale and out of jail.

Wales escaped with three precious World Cup points Scotland should have had under lock and key...

And Craig Levein was left questioning the justice of it all.

James Morrison’s first-half opener looked like winning this Group A clash in Cardiff with just ten minutes left to play.

Steven Fletcher even had a 74th minute goal disallowed which would have made it 2-0 before the smash and grab job.

It was a one-man getaway from sensational Spurs star Gareth Bale which left Levein feeling robbed.

One penalty — with his trademark heart-shape celebration — and a truly magnificent strike sealed the victory.

And the Tartan Army trudged home in despair with another qualification campaign virtually gone.

It’s now Belgium away for sad Scotland on Tuesday but Brazil 2014 looks way beyond us already. What now for the Scotland boss?

Levein could talk all he liked in the build-up to this game about how he wasn’t a man under pressure.

This just wasn’t true. He was.

The bottom line here was this was a must-win night for the Scotland boss.

With only two points from the first two qualifiers against Serbia and Macedonia room for error in Group A had GONE.

Levein had to get his team selection right and recalled Kris Commons and Steven Fletcher were both in from the start.

Inspirational skipper Darren Fletcher was back in a Dark Blue jersey for the first time in almost a year.

Before a ball was kicked then, the signs were good. The Tartan Army had taken over the Cardiff City Stadium for the night and the backing and support was there.

What Levein would have wanted most of all was a good positive start to the game and he got one.

Wales were on the back foot right from the first whistle with Scotland forcing the issue — but it wasn’t long before the home side showed what a threat they could be.

With Danny Fox caught upfield and out of position Christophe Berra moved across but backed away from Bale as the Spurs star ran into the box.

After cleverly creating a yard of space the Welsh wonderboy curled in a left-foot shot which missed the target by little more than a yard.

It was a let-off.

Between themselves, Levein’s defence and midfield men conducted an immediate on-the-pitch inquest into how Bale was allowed so much time and space to work with.

But more was to come. A Wales break forward after 23 minutes was the next scare for Levein with Aaron Ramsey sprinting forward unchallenged before feeding the ball to Joe Allen.

After taking a good touch the goal opened up for the Liverpool midfielder, but Gary Caldwell raced back with a brilliant block.

Wales’ best chance, though, came three minutes later.

Bale skinned Fox before playing in a perfect cross for striker Steve Morison, but with all the hard work done he somehow missed the target with a header from seven yards out.

Any one of those three chances for the Welsh could have resulted in the ball ending up in the back of the net.

But just as Wales were beginning to gather momentum and silence the travelling Scots they switched off for a second at the back and were ruthlessly punished.

Allan McGregor’s long punt up the park was won by Steven Fletcher who headed on for Morrison and he was through on keeper Lewis Price.

Keeping his cool Mozza rifled his shot low and hard to score.

It was a massive blow for Wales after a dominating spell in the game which saw Arsenal ace Ramsey at his electrifying best and Bale simply breathtaking.

Skipper Darren Fletcher and full-back Fox had to dig deep into their reserves of energy just to keep up with the awesome attackers.

At the other end Scotland continued to push and probe in search of a second strike.

Five minutes before the break Steven Fletcher set up Morrison again with a cushioned header inside the box, but this time the West Brom ace blasted over the top.

Levein was forced into a change at half-time with Scott Brown’s lack of full fitness keeping him inside the dressing room as Charlie Adam was stripped for action.

After the re-start alarm bells continued to ring.

Bale wasn’t picked up at a corner in 50 minutes and had a half-chance with a glancing header, but he didn’t get the connection he was looking for.

In 64 minutes came another major let-off for Scotland.

Ramsey burst into the box with a darting run before crashing to the ground under a challenge from Adam.

The contact was minimal with German ref Florin Meyer deciding there hadn’t been enough to warrant a spot-kick.

By now the red-shirted Welsh players were pushing forward in search of a leveller with the Scotland defence pushed to the limit.

But at the other end Levein’s men still continued to threaten. Morrison had a great chance to seal the victory, but was denied by keeper Price.

Ramsey should have scored after breaking up the park, but he fluffed his shot when he looked destined to score.

Steven Fletcher looked to have scored Scotland’s second in 74 minutes — only for it to be disallowed with the ref ruling the cross from Adam had gone out of play.

It was the wrong call and Fletcher was stunned when his strike was ruled out.

It was nerve-jangling stuff and with ten minutes to go Wales finally levelled.

Shaun Maloney tracked Bale back into the box after yet another devastating run, with the Spurs star hitting the deck. This time the ref gave the penalty.

Bale picked himself up off the rain-soaked turf to send keeper McGregor the wrong way.

Levein immediately changed it with Kenny Miller and Jamie Mackie thrown on with Scotland bursting a gut for the winner.

Mackie had a sight of goal but pulled his shot wide. Alan Hutton then had a shot inches over the bar.

But in 88 minutes, disaster struck. Bale had no right to score from 25 yards out and he should have been stopped by Adam.

But he unleashed a brilliant shot into the top corner to win it.