DAVID TURNBULL made a wonderful first impression in a dream Scotland international debut in the 2-2 draw with Holland in Portugal last night.
The classy midfielder, a rare Celtic success in last season’s dire campaign following his £2.75million summer arrival from Motherwell, was a stand-out in the pre-Euro Finals friendly against the Dutch who sneaked an equaliser two minutes from time.
Turnbull, quite rightly, reckoned Steve Clarke’s side were “hard done by” after watching victory snatched away with a diabolical decision by the referee when he awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box to Frank de Boer’s team.
TV pictures clearly showed Memphis Depay backing into Jack Hendry, who scored the opening goal for the Scots, in an effort to win the set play. The match official was quick to make his decision and, to make matters worse, the former Manchester United forward whipped the free-kick past the helpless Craig Gordon.
BY THE LEFT…David Turnbull fires in a drive that flies just off target.
Kevin Nisbet, who has been linked with the Parkhead side, had put Scotland ahead in the 63rd minute with a neat far-post finish following an excellent left-wing cross from skipper Andy Robertson who ran almost the length of the pitch after breaking up the original Holland attack on the edge of his own box.
Depay levelled Hendry’s strike when he took advantage of some slack defending in the first-half to rifle a low drive past the stretching Gordon to his left.
Turnbull was delighted to get his first cap, but told Sky Sports: “We conceded to a great free-kick at the end and there’s not much that can be done about that.
“I’m not sure if was a foul or not – I’d need to see it back – but I felt we were hard done by.”
On his first appearance for the full team, Turnbull added: “I really enjoyed it. It’s a great achievement to finally get that under my belt. I felt I could play a good part.
“I tried to do my best and I thought I did that.”
Clarke’s side now face Luxembourg on Sunday in their final warm-up game ahead of the Euro Group D opener against the Czech Republic at Hampden on June 14.
