Season › 2014-15 › News Scotland edge Celtic clash , 14 November, 25comments | Jump to most recent Darron Gibson, Seamus Coleman and Aiden McGeady faced off against Goodison teammate Steven Naismith in Glasgow this evening as Scotland beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0 in Euro2016 qualifying. All three of the Blues' fit Irish internationals were named in the starting XI — James McCarthy was ruled out yesterday with a hamstring injury — while Naismith started for the Scots and all four players appear to have come through a full-blooded "derby-esque" encounter at Celtic Park unscathed. Ireland had the better of the opening exchanges but McGeady, left to shoulder the relentless booing from the home faithful in McCarthy's absence, was yellow-carded after 15 minutes for a late tackle as Scotland began to come more into it. Goalless at half time, the encounter remained highly competitive going into the second half where McGeady forced the first save of the second period from David Marshall and Coleman was booked for blocking Andrew Roberton's run down the flank with almost an hour gone. Gibson was withdrawn in the 68th minute, replaced by Stephe Quinn not long after great work by Naismith had served up a chance in front of goal for substitute Chris Martin but the Derby County striker fired wide. Scotland did take the lead with a quarter of an hour to go, though, after Jonathan Walters had skimmed a defensive header off his own crossbar. The resulting corner was worked short and Shaun Maloney curled an excellent shot inside the far post and score what proved to be the winner. Ireland desperately pushed for an equaliser in added time and Hanley headed onto his own bar in a crowded area but the home defence held firm, allowing the Scots to draw level with Martin O'Neill's side with seven points in Group D. Coleman described the Irish camp as "devastated" after the match but stressed that it was still early in the qualifying campaign. "We're disappointed," Coleman said. "We came here to win the game, and it was important that we didn't lose, but unfortunately we didn't do that. "We might have switched off a bit for the corner. We're all disappointed, but it's early in the group, and we've got to move on." Reader Comments (25) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Patrick Murphy 1 Posted 14/11/2014 at 19:53:51 Proper old-fashioned atmosphere at Celtic Park - McGeady getting Â’plentyÂ’ from the Scotland supporters. Frank Wade 2 Posted 14/11/2014 at 19:58:38 Fair play to McGeady, getting stuck in more than usual as a result. More boos please ! Trevor Lynes 3 Posted 14/11/2014 at 19:59:39 No interest apart from injuries IÂ’m afraid. I see Baines has pulled out of the England squad due to injury. Patrick Murphy 4 Posted 14/11/2014 at 20:01:35 HeÂ’s just been carded. Too enthusiastic. Stephen Brown 5 Posted 14/11/2014 at 20:08:21 This is blood and thunder - worried our boys could be injured tonight !!! Gavin McGarvey 6 Posted 14/11/2014 at 20:34:16 Great game. Just like the old days. Could do with a goal or two mind. Patrick Murphy 7 Posted 14/11/2014 at 20:35:53 Gavin - Although the quality is missing the intensity isn't - I get the feeling that too many players in the PL think it's ok to walk about and look pretty rather than get stuck in to each other. I also wonder how managers cope in trying to motivate millionaires, different times indeed. Stephen Brown 8 Posted 14/11/2014 at 20:38:43 It’s a brilliant game to watch... low on quality but really intense!!! Please let Seamus be subbed! Craig Fletcher 9 Posted 14/11/2014 at 20:52:02 Naismith looking very good so far. Gibbo too playing well; McGeady looks like the crowd is getting to him. Gavin McGarvey 10 Posted 14/11/2014 at 20:59:33 Patrick, They certainly don't look short of motivation tonight. I'm struggling to remember a game like it in the last couple of seasons. Been a while since we've had a competitive international derby like this. Nothing like seeing players forgetting about the money and really going for it. Frank Wade 11 Posted 14/11/2014 at 21:39:11 Naismith the pick of the blues tonight. A pity he wasn't allowed ruffle O'Shea's feathers last Sunday, like he did tonight. No apparent injuries. Old fashioned rough and tumble match. Ian McDowell 12 Posted 14/11/2014 at 21:46:34 How good was Marshall, Scotland's Goalie? Tim Howard – take note how to come for a cross! Colin Glassar 13 Posted 14/11/2014 at 21:50:32 The consensus on the TW live forum is that we should go for Marshall, Ian. Howard needs some serious competition. James Joseph 14 Posted 14/11/2014 at 22:51:32 Agree that Marshall is a good keeper – great shot stopper, but with the ball at his feet he's poor; his kicking is appalling. James Stewart 15 Posted 14/11/2014 at 23:40:19 I've been saying we should have got Marshall for ages! Top class. In fact I would say he is better than most keepers in the EPL. Colin Glassar 16 Posted 14/11/2014 at 23:55:34 James, Howard could teach him how to kick and he could teach Howard how to come out for crosses. Christopher Kelly 17 Posted 14/11/2014 at 23:56:59 Why on earth of all of the players at Wigan, go for Kone and not Maloney??!! Fuck he's been a nightmare for us for years and is scoring every game for Scotland... Fabulous goal. Nice heel and clean one-timer. Harold Matthews 18 Posted 15/11/2014 at 00:36:07 Young Robertson is a brilliant left back. On our radar for ages but we had cover in his position and needed people elsewhere. Hull got a real bargain.Marshall looked better than Howard but right now everyone looks better than Howard. Dave Duggan 19 Posted 15/11/2014 at 02:47:35 Howard to teach how to kick? Fuck me he is one of the worst! David Greenwood 21 Posted 15/11/2014 at 08:32:13 I was at the match, fantastic atmosphere, and two teams giving everything and playing a good-old fashioned game of football.I took a particular interest in the Toffees on show. Naismith was outstanding, his best position is centrally as a second striker. Which is where Barkley, Eto'o and Naismith all play. Not one of the three is nearly as effective when played wider. How do we accommodate all three? As a diamond perhaps, with Lukaku, Eto'o up top and Naismith in behind. Barkley further back? Who knows over to you Roberto, make it work!Gibson was neat and tidy, got stuck in and with the injuries to McCarthy and Barry, perhaps Gibson and Barkley with Besic just behind is they way forward? He's an excellent player and won't let us down if he starts the next few games. Stay fit though lad.Coleman was excellent as ever, what more can you say about him? And McGeady, well a typical McGeady performance as far as I could tell. At times he looked really good, at other times he looked uninterested and terrible. At least its not just with us that the next person to touch the ball after McGeady plays for the other team. Geoff Evans 22 Posted 15/11/2014 at 08:55:40 Patrick 7: Great word INTENSITY mate. Conjures up visions of high tempo, exciting football a concept which unfortunately in the majority of PL games has been missing for too long. Steve Jenkins 23 Posted 15/11/2014 at 09:47:16 Agree re Marshall – he’s a big commanding keeper that also makes saves he shouldn’t. There are very few keepers in the world you can say that about these days.I’d love to see him at Everton. Derek Knox 24 Posted 15/11/2014 at 11:17:26 I would 'normally have watched and rooted for ROI with so many of 'our lads' playing, but being a Scot, my allegiance to Scotland prevailed.I must say also as many have alluded to, it was not sophisticated football, but 'What a match to watch' – I couldn't take my eyes off the game for one second. True passion and National Pride from both sides, a credit to International Football, in this day and age of demanding ridiculous wages and appearance money etc.It's a pity in many ways that there had to be a loser, but I think both sides will have gained many admirers, and respect too from neutrals.I refer to Ian (#12) and Colin (#13), with regards to David Marshall, who I have always admired and was hoping that Roberto would have gone for, when the window was open and Cardiff got relegated, but he seems to think El Teflon is the answer – I totally disagree. Geoff Evans 25 Posted 15/11/2014 at 11:44:38 Tim Howard has been a super servant to the club but it's time to look elsewhere. Sam Hoare 26 Posted 15/11/2014 at 13:16:28 Marshall is 29. Good age for a GK. Probably just coming into his prime. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads © ToffeeWeb