Stevie May capped his first start for Scotland’s Under-21s with his first goal for his country as the Dark Blues beat Slovakia 2-1 in their Euro 2015 qualifier in Paisley.
The 20-year-old St Johnstone striker has started the season on fire for his club side with seven goals and carried his impressive form on to the international stage with Scotland’s second at St Mirren Park.
Dundee United midfielder Stuart Armstrong had handed Billy Stark’s side the lead after half an hour with a tidy finish but the Slovakians did give them cause for concern late on after substitute Thomas Malec halved the deficit with a close-range finish.
The victory lifts Scotland above their opponents and into second place in Group Three, with Georgia next up in Tbilisi on Tuesday.
Stark’s youngsters were desperate to post a respectable result having shipped 10 goals in successive hammerings by England and Holland.
But they were up against a side who arrived in Scotland top of a qualifying group that also includes the Dutch and Luxembourg following victories in both of their opening qualifiers.
Armstrong opened the scoring on 31 minutes, after Aberdeen youngster Clark Robertson’s cut-back was perfect for the United man to steer into the corner of the net.
A second came soon after as May gathered the ball in the inside left channel before shrugging off Norbert Gyomber as he strode into the box to lash a left-foot drive over Patrick Legiand into the roof of the net.