George Hirst scores and Che Adams bags hat-trick as Scotland beat Liechtenstein

The 42

4 days ago

GEORGE HIRST NETTED his first international goal and Che Adams grabbed a hat-trick as Scotland eased to a 4-0 victory against Liechtenstein.
Ipswich striker Hirst put Scotland three ahead in the Vaduz friendly early in the second half with a close-range finish on his fourth cap.
Che Adams was on target twice in the first half after only scoring once in his previous 19 internationals and the Torino forward headed home with the last action of the game.
It was a night of firsts for Scotland with Ross Doohan, Doig, Andy Irving, Connor Barron and Kieron Bowie making their debuts and Lennon Miller making an impressive first start with a hand in two goals.
Doohan flew in from a family holiday in Turkey after being handed his first call-up in the wake of injuries to Angus Gunn and Robby McCrorie, and Cieran Slicker's difficult debut in Friday's 3-1 defeat by Iceland.
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The outgoing Aberdeen goalkeeper probably had the quietest game of his career, not needing to make a save and barely touching the ball in the second half.
With Scott McTominay and Kieran Tierney injured, 18-year-old Motherwell midfielder Miller and Adams came in as Steve Clarke lined up with a 4-4-2 formation. Anthony Ralston, Jack Hendry and Scott McKenna came into defence as Clarke made six changes.
Scotland laboured to narrow wins over Liechtenstein in their only two previous meetings in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, but there was little doubt about the winner of this encounter from the fourth minute when Adams opened the scoring.
Miller's volley was blocked following a corner and the Torino striker hit the rebound into the roof of the net.
Lewis Ferguson missed a decent chance before Adams doubled his tally in the 26th minute. Miller was again involved, winning possession as the home side tried to pass the ball out from the back and setting up Adams to wrong-foot the goalkeeper.
John McGinn had a shot well-saved after Miller's pass inside the full-back and Doohan almost got his first taste of meaningful action when home wing-back Kenny Kindle was allowed to run a long way with the ball and get a shot away. His effort just cleared the top corner.
The 1600 away fans were entertained by a Swiss-based pipe band at half-time and they were cheering again within three minutes of the restart.
McGinn struck the post from 20 yards before Adams flicked on Ralston's cross for Hirst to convert at the back post.
Sassuolo left-back Doig and West Ham midfielder Irving were brought on for debuts just before the hour mark.
Doig got down the left wing to good effect and forced a save before Hibernian striker Bowie and Rangers midfielder Barron entered the fray.
Scotland continued to play in the opposition half and Adams headed home substitute Tommy Conway's near-post cross immediately before the full-time whistle.