UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier
Andorra 1, Scotland 1
Friday, 23 March, kick-off 5pm
Estadi Comunal
Andorra: Ricard Fernandez (77)
Scotland: Lewis Morgan (90+1)
Scotland’s Under-21s ended a difficult night in Andorra with the frustrated feeling of not doing themselves justice, despite battling back to claim a point after falling behind.
Already without regulars Oli McBurnie and Scott McKenna, the reshuffled side took their time to get to grips with a tight, bumpy pitch and the fired-up hosts despite being well warned of what to expect.
Lewis Morgan netted an injury-time leveller to cancel out Ricard Fernandez’s penalty.
Keeper Ryan Fulton looked sharp to block an early effort from Fernandez, before Morgan tried his luck at the other end with a similar strike that was also thwarted.
Morgan, cutting inside from a Ryan Hardie lay-off, saw another shot fly narrowly wide as the Scots tried to up the ante.
Jason Kerr was disappointed not to keep a close-range volley from sailing over after John Souttar was able to help on a Stevie Mallan free-kick.
It proved costly and Kerr was dismayed to be punished for an apparent pull on Fernandez inside the box with 13 minutes to go, with the same player dusting himself down to score.
Morgan, however, snatched victory from Andorra with a fierce, low deflected strike.
He and his team-mates had to make do with a point in the end despite a couple of half-chances in the dying seconds to go one better.
Speaking in the aftermath, Gemmill said: “There were no surprises for us. We knew it would be very hard for us to create chances against Andorra, it's a very narrow pitch and it wasn't in good condition so we knew what kind of a game it would be.
“Credit to Andorra, they executed their game plan very well. Credit to our players - we kept going very well.
“In the end we had a chance to win the match, the block the defender produced really shows the resilience.
"Previous Andorra performances have shown they are hard to break down - England only scored one goal here. We weren't surprised by the type of game we had, but at the same time we are disappointed with our performance.
"The players are very disappointed. There were no surprises because everyone in our squad knew what type of game we were going to get. The players had to step up to the plate and match or better that resilience and fight that the Andorran team showed and too many times we didn't do that.
“We didn't defend well enough as a team. We knew it would be difficult to create chances on that pitch, but the players at last kept going and made sure we weren't defeated.
“The challenge was to execute our game plan. This international football - it's a serious level and the players have to rise to it every single time they play.”
Andorra: Alvarez, De Pablos, Garcia, Llovera, Pomeras, C. Bove (Robelo, 77), Reyes (Tizon, 89), Di Castillo, Cervos, Martinez, Fernandez.
Unused substitutes: Siverio, Guellin, A. Bove, Armada.
Scotland: Fulton, Cadden, Souttar, Kerr, Taylor, Campbell, Burke (Wright, 81), Docherty (Brophy, 53), Mallan (Smith, 61), Morgan, Hardie.
Unused substitutes: Doohan, Burt, Muirhead, St Clair.