The Manchester United midfielder, mature beyond his 21 years, took a pass from Graham Alexander before thrashing a right-footed drive past Samir Handanovic from 22 yards.Craig Gordon's chief concern in the exchanges that followed was to sprint back to his goal after a heavy first touch took the ball out to the wing He pursued it, blundering through a tackle before returning. Instead, last weekend's events lent an air of futility to the fixture.Fortunately, neither Scotland nor the Tartan Army shared that view. The players were clearly determined to put Saturday's aberration against Belarus behind them. As chants of "easy, easy" filled the cold night air, Paul Hartley crowned a splendid move with another eye-catching finish to deliver the Scots' biggest away win in a qualifier since beating Estonia 3-0 in 1993.If things had panned out the way Smith had wanted, this would have been a night of goal flashes and shredded nerves, his side striving for the victory that might have prevented Norway seizing the play-off spot. Hopefully, we can achieve a good level in the next campaign." Darren Fletcher and James McFadden struck fine goals at the start of either half, after which Scotland defended resolutely against persistent but unconvincing pressure. "As the manager of a national team, you know you're not going to get that many opportunities to go to major finals," Smith said.
"The first one has slipped away from us, but at least we got the decent ranking that everyone was saying was so important for the next one. If a barren stalemate with Slovenia in their opening Group Five match typified Scotland's fortunes under Berti Vogts, the handsome victory here last night over the same opponents that closed a fluctuating campaign pointed to their potential with Walter Smith as manager. However, the tournament organisers insist that any tickets bought through such agencies cannot be correctly identified with an individual, and will be invalid if spotted.. I am going to write to Sepp Blatter at Fifa and see if there's any possibility they can raise the percentage of tickets available to England supporters."The actual amount of tickets per match is not yet known - the draw, schedule and venues are to be confirmed in December, after which it will be deermined how many members of the official supporters' club can attend.The FA has also written to Fifa, stating that it will be willing to take any additional tickets for England matches if they are drawn against a country with few travelling supporters.The FA and the Football Supporters' Federation have warned fans not to buy tickets from black market sources.Fifa reiterated this week that, for the first time, there would be random identity checks at all World Cup venues in Germany next summer and anyone found with a ticket who did not correspond to their passport or ID card would be refused entry.A variety of agencies, in Europe and the United States, is offering guaranteed pre-sales of tickets. We are likely to have the largest following of all the teams travelling to Germany, with 25,000 members of the England supporters' club and only eight per cent of each stadium set aside for England fans, so obviously a lot are going to miss out."Our supporters showed both in Japan and Portugal they can enjoy themselves without causing trouble and I think it is important that as many real fans as possible get the chance to see England play in the World Cup when it is so close to home. The Football Association will be allocated just eight per cent of tickets for any England match to distribute to its official supporters' club, leading to concerns that fans will seek to buy others on the black market. Caborn said yesterday: "I have had a lot of representations about England fans not being able to get tickets. He is now an after-dinner speaker and has his own betting column.'Cult Heroes' is published by BBC Books, priced £9.99..
The Sports Minister, Richard Caborn, is to write to Fifa to request more tickets for England fans in next summer's World Cup finals in Germany. However, after only six months at the club he was sold to Leyton Orient and began dropping down the leagues, finally settling at Brentford, where he enjoyed the twilight of his career. In 2004, QPR supporters voted him their greatest-ever player, in recognition for his exploits during the 1970s. Becoming their hero almost as quickly, the midfielder was sold to QPR in September 1972 for £110,000.* Loftus Road legend: It was at Loftus Road that he achieved the greatest acclaim, helping QPR to finish second in the First Division in 1976 and being capped by England between 1974 and 1977.* Always a gambler, Bowles moved to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in 1979. By far the best player in the Fourth Division, Bowles remained prone to the lure of the horses.* His manager's verdict: Manager Ernie Tagg once said: "If Stan could pass a betting shop like he can pass a football, he would be all right." Tagg even used to give Bowles' wages directly to his wife.* Carlisle hero: In October 1971 Bowles was sold to Second Division Carlisle United for £12,000. After brief and unsuccessful spells at Manchester City and Bury, Bowles arrived at Crewe and became an instant hero. I tried it a few times, but I left him once in Chelsea and I wound up on one of them bridges, walking completely the wrong way.
