Football: Young Dane a class apart

Scotland Under-21 1 Denmark Under-21 2

SCOTLAND'S young guns found themselves outshone by the Ajax-bound Jesper Gronkjaer, who scored and made another for Peter Madsen in an opening spell in which the Danes capitalised on uncertain defending at Stirling yesterday.

The 20-year-old forward, who has signed a pre-contract deal to leave Aalborg for the Dutch club this summer, was a class apart at Forthbank.

For the home coach, Tommy Craig, the defeat hardly bodes well for the European Championship qualifiers at under-21 level later this year. However, he will have been encouraged by an improved second-half display which culminated in the substitute Barry Ferguson's 86th-minute free-kick to halve the deficit.

After nine minutes, Gronkjaer's low cross shot was pushed away by the goalkeeper Derek Scrimgour, Clement Cliford was first to the rebound but Gary Naysmith blocked his effort. But after 18 minutes Denmark translated their pressure into a goal for Gronkjaer, who cleverly turned Mikkel Jensen's cross past Scrimgour.

Five minutes later, Gronkjaer got the better of Louis Carey on the left to fire an angled drive that Scrimgour could only push as far as Madsen, who netted with ease.

The Danes could have moved further ahead before the break when Scrimgour fumbled a Lars Jacobsen cross into the path of Madsen but this time he volleyed wide of an open goal from the edge of the area.

After the break Denmark continued to press, Jensen firing a free-kick narrowly wide after 48 minutes.

Gavin Strachan, watched by his father Gordon, almost managed a goal on his debut after 75 minutes when his diving header from Stuart Campbell's precise cross was clawed away well by Jimmy Nielsen.

That looked as though it would be Scotland's first and last effort at goal but the Rangers midfielder Ferguson stroked in a 20-yard free-kick for a happier conclusion to a disappointing afternoon.

Scotland Under-21: Scrimgour; McEwan, Naysmith, McCluskey (Horn, 68), Carey, Brebner (Anderson, 57), Campbell (Ferguson, 77), Strachan, McCulloch, Graham (Burchill, 57), Easton. Substitutes not used: Robertson, Elliot.

Denmark Under-21: Nielsen; Jacobsen, Laursen, Baelum, Jepsen, Madsen, Jensen, Fig (Lektonen, 77), Gronkjaer, Roell-Larsen, Cliford (Smith, 70). Substitutes not used: Crogh, Thorup, Hyldgaard.

Referee: Bragi Bergmann (Iceland).

l The West Ham striker Lee Boylan was knocked unconscious following a collision with the Czech Republic Under-21 goalkeeper Jindrich Skacel 20 minutes into his Republic of Ireland Under-21 debut in Drnovice. Boylan was treated for more than two minutes on the pitch before he could be moved. X-rays later revealed he had not fractured a cheek bone as feared, but bruising to the side of his face. The Irish lost the match 3-0.