On a vital night for Scotland in Boston, it was a few of the old reliable faces who combined to give them a famous win over Haiti.
Veteran midfielder and fan favourite John McGinn – a constant and ever-reliable performer for the Scots in recent years – scored the only goal of the game as Steve Clarke’s side moved top of Group C.
That opener came after a rebound from Che Adams’ initial effort fell to the feet of the Villa man, with two of Steve Clarke’s stalwarts at the heart of things on a famous night for the Scots.
But while many familiar faces featured for Scotland at the Gillette Stadium, it was their least experienced player who shone the brightest, with winger Ben Gannon-Doak marking a man-of-the-match performance with his own telling contribution to the only goal of the game.
The goal came from route one football, but there was plenty of quality needed as the long ball from their own defensive third was taken down brilliantly by Adams.
The striker laid it off to Gannon-Doak on the wing, the 20-year-old isolated but needing no invitation to take on his man and beat him around the outside. He fizzed in a brilliant low cross that Adams probably should have converted, only for the ball to fall to McGinn to bundle in the rebound courtesy of a fortunate deflection.
It might not have been a goal that Scotland deserved but it was a suitable reward for the efforts of Gannon-Doak, who had made a lively start. He created the first half-chance of the game as an early twisting run ended with a tame effort, and almost made the first goal of the game too, another adventurous run ending with a lay-off to Scott McTominay, who crashed a low effort against the post when he probably should have scored.
Though Steve Clarke’s side were shaky at times in the first half, Gannon-Doak stood out, providing an outlet for his teammates and an altogether different wing threat to that offered by McGinn, who prefers to drift inside as he did to great effect in the 28th minute.
While he was quieter in the second half, the 20-year-old showed flashes of his threat, twice beating his man well and winning a dangerous free-kick on one occasion.
And while McGinn will rightly receive the plaudits on a famous night for the Scots, Gannon-Doak provides an interesting outlet for a Scotland side that often lacks that final bit of pace and quality in the final third.
Of course, at only 20 years old the Bournemouth winger can himself be guilty of not finding that final pass, though the fact that a hamstring injury – and the superb form of Cherries teammates Antoine Semenyo and Rayan – kept him out of the Bournemouth starting line-up for most of the season means his development has been stunted.
Indeed, the youngster made only the 16th appearance of his international career in Boston, as part of a fairly experienced Scotland side in which he was the one player with under 20 caps.
In fact, Gannon-Doak only completed one full 90 in Scotland’s qualifying campaign – as well as 88 minutes in the loss to Greece in Athens – and only scored once, though he did claim an assist in the dramatic win over Denmark when playing just 21 minutes.
However, performances like tonight will ensure that he makes at least two more appearances for Steve Clarke’s side this summer.
Clarke praised the entire group “rather than singling out two players” in Gannon-Doak and Ferguson, though you suspect that the 62-year-old was delighted with the youngster’s performance.
There will be more testing opposition – both as a team and individually for the winger – but this was a promising maiden World Cup showing, and one that may have marked the 20-year-old out as a key part of the future of this side.
However, Scotland cannot afford to look too far ahead yet – first comes Morocco at this same venue on Friday, and Gannon-Doak will need to deliver again as they aim to make history in North America this summer.
