Dundee United defender Ross Graham got his international career off to the best possible start with a goal on his Scotland Under 21 debut – but no one was able to see it.
The 21-year-old scored the opener in his side’s 2-2 Euro 2023 qualifier draw with Kazakhstan.
Liverpool’s Tom Clayton extended Scotland’s lead before the hosts pulled one back from the penalty spot to set up a nervy final 20 minutes.
Graham, who has been a revelation for the Tannadice side, played the duration of the game but was helpless to prevent the home side drawing level after a goalkeeping blunder right at the death.
Technical issue
Any hopes of seeing the United kid in action from the start were soon shattered due to a technical issue in Kazakhstan.
Picture failure from Kazakhstan however Scotland are 1 up, Ross Graham on his debut. Technical staff working hard to restore. @Loyman5 and I on hand as soon as pictures secured. https://t.co/HWTAoapR0k
— Paul W Mitchell (@pwmcomms) March 29, 2022
That led to the BBC being unable to show much of the clash with a message reading ‘Sorry for the break in transmission. We are working to fix this.’
Grainy images were restored early in the second half but supporters were unable to see Graham’s maiden strike for his country.
Pictures have returned, all being well 2nd half @ScottishFA u21 in Kazakhstan coming up on bbc sport website and app. Scotland lead 1-0, 6 yellow cards shown
@Loyman5 and I with second half pic.twitter.com/2uN8yNGLm8— Paul W Mitchell (@pwmcomms) March 29, 2022
The game descended into further farce with heavy rain and sleet making the conditions almost unplayable with the ball holding up on parts of the surface.
To compound matters, the floodlights in the stadium appeared to go off around the 80th minute before returning a few minutes later.
However, the referee continued to play on and Scotland were left to suffer late heartbreak thanks to an equaliser in the 94th minute.
The result leaves Scot Gemmill’s Under 21 side fourth in Group I with just five points after six games.
