Celtic duo Stephen Welsh and Adam Montgomery both played key roles as Scotland U21s bagged a gutsy 1-1 draw in Turkey tonight.
The match kicked off Scotland’s European Championship qualifying campaign for 2023.
Both Welsh and Montgomery were making their competitive debuts for the U21s. However, the former had previous experience in two friendly matches against Northern Ireland earlier this year.
U21 boss Scott Gemmill also gave Welsh the captain’s armband as he produced a strong display in front of a hostile crowd.
But it was Montgomery who managed to produce the eye-catching moment of the night. Operating down the left with Josh Doig, the Celtic man put a brilliant box into the penalty area on 10 minutes that was expertly guided home by Glenn Middleton. All of a sudden, Montgomery had an assist on his Scotland U21 debut.
Unfortunately, the Scots couldn’t hold on to their advantage. Enis Destan managed to poke an equaliser home in the final 15 minutes to secure a point for the Turks.
The result was a tough one to take given the lead Scotland had. However, on paper, it’s a fine start to their qualifying campaign.
Celtic duo shine for Scotland U21 on important night
It was a big night for both Welsh and Montgomery. The former has shown strong leadership skills with Celtic this season. It was no surprise to see him given the armband given how he’s started his club campaign.
Even so, Welsh was strong in the air and physical in the challenge all night. He perhaps made a slight error for the Turks’ equaliser, but he was a key reason as to why Ross Sinclair was barely troubled in the Scotland goal.
Montgomery, meanwhile, was playing further forward and was clearly happy to offer himself as an attacking option on the left flank. The young Scot put in several promising crosses as he continues to show he isn’t out of place regardless of where he plays.
Adam has been a regular sub for Ange Postecoglou this season. The Celtic boss even entrusted him to do a job in Alkmaar two weeks ago. A job he did tremendously well.
And both players have proven tonight that they’ll be staples of Scotland U21’s Euro qualifying campaign in the coming months.
Next up for the young Scots is a trip to Denmark next month in a key battle in the group.
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