Dumfries heroes see World Cup dream end as Scotland lose to Ukraine

Scotland’s local heroes Grant Hanley and Lyndon Dykes suffered the bitter blow of World Cup defeat to Ukraine to end their hopes of making the Qatar finals.

And, to compound the dejection, former Queen of the South striker Dykes was substituted at
half-time to make way for Ryan Christie while Dumfries born defender Hanley suffered a cut above his eye in the closing stages of the 3-1 Hampden horror show.

The Scots were outplayed by Ukraine in the World Cup semi-final play off and there were few players who produced the goods on the night.

Keeper Craig Gordon pulled off several fabulous saves in the first half while Callum McGregor turned in a decent show capped with Scotland’s only goal.

But it was a night to forget for the rest of the national side.

Hanley was tormented in the early Ukraine attacks by Andriy Yarmolenko who grabbed the opener in 33 minutes with a deft lob over keeper Gordon.

And it was Hanley who played him onside in the move.

Lyndon Dykes was subbed at half-time. (SNS Group)

The former Dumfries Academy pupil was also caught out by Roman Yaremchuk early in the second half as the Ukraine frontman headed a killer second in 49 minutes.

Dykes was sacrificed at the interval for ex-Celtic player Christie to help inject more bite in the Scotland push and the move by manager Stevie Clarke worked for large chunks of the second half as the Scots fought back.

But the Queens Park Rangers striker had an eventful first 45 minutes, being battered from behind by Ruslan Malinovskyi which earned the Ukrainian a deserved booking.

Dykes also dished out some punishment and collected a yellow card for a stray elbow which caught Taras Stepanenko in the face leaving him writhing in agony on the Hampden surface and requiring treatment.

Finally, McGregor scrambled home from close range with 11 minutes left to spark a late rally.

But despite the onslaught it was Ukraine who found the net again with a goal five minutes into stoppage time as the Scots were caught out at the back and Artem Dovbyk strode through to poke a low shot past keeper Gordon for number three.

Boss Clark said: “It was a disappointing night, you have to be honest, the best team on the night won.

“I wish them luck when they go to Cardiff, you also have wish the Welsh luck, should be a great game, unfortunately we’re not involved.

“I made the change at half time (Christie on for Dykes), but we didn’t give ourselves a chance to utilise the change, because we were 2-0
down very early in the second half.

“After that, we showed character, we had a go, we left ourself open at the back, which we had to risk.”

Ukraine play Wales in the play-off final on Sunday.