This was just what Scotland and new national coach Sebastien Pocognoli needed. North Macedonia were just what they needed.
The Balkan outfit, being brutal, are honking. Now 11 games without a win, they couldn’t beat eggs. The number of empty seats around the Todor Proeski Stadium showed exactly what the local punters think about them.
Their head coach Goce Sedloski wasn’t crying any tears for us when he helped his nation see off George Burley’s side as a player back in 2008, mind you, so let’s not get too upset about him surely being put in front of the firing squad before long.
The main thing is that Pocognoli, in contrast, now has a little bit of breathing space from his first win as he settles in.
This was a pleasing Nations League display against limited opposition, for sure. It came with a number of elements that worked out well and have, at least, laid a bit of a foundation with a view to moving forward.
For starters, Kieron Bowie’s seventh-minute opener — a brilliant left-footed finish from distance after taking a forward pass from Billy Gilmour, taking two touches and letting fly — ensured unwanted history was not made in Skopje.
Skipper Andy Robertson (right) celebrates with Kieron Bowie after the striker’s early opener
John McGinn nets from the penalty spot in the second half to make it 2-0
Had Scotland failed to score within the opening 25 minutes, it would have been the longest-ever period the national team had gone without finding the net.
Praise be to Bowie for preventing that ignominy. There was much more to take from his overall performance than that, though.
These Nations League games have been an audition for him, Robbie Ure and Oli McBurnie to show they can be trusted up front before Che Adams, who has had plenty of opportunities and largely failed to convince, gets himself fit and available again.
What Bowie delivered in 75 minutes before making way for Ure put him very much at the head of the queue. The Sassuolo centre-forward should be back up front again when Slovenia come calling at Hampden on Tuesday night in a game that Scotland should now be expected to win.
He looked physical and dangerous paired up front with McBurnie, who was taken off and still doesn’t exactly convince. Bowie had other chances himself, of course, squandering a brilliant chance on the half-hour mark when stealing the ball from goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski and then hitting it off Visar Musliu.
However, he was involved in all sorts. He set up chances and then won the 69th-minute penalty that set the seal on this vitally important win — muscling in after a downward header from Scott McKenna and putting in a close-range shot that Rangers striker Bojan Miovski clearly handled in front of goal.
That John McGinn scored from the spot-kick, sending Dimitrievski the wrong way, was important too. He hasn’t been playing at the top of his form for Scotland over the past while. There have been rumblings from certain quarters over whether or not he should be dropped.
He shouldn’t. He ought to be a mainstay in Pocognoli’s side. However, those doubts and criticisms surrounding him would have become noticeably louder had he failed to find the net.
There was a time when McGinn scored goals at international level for fun. As he stepped up to take his chances from the 12-yard mark here, he’d only netted once in two years. He now has the same number of goals — 22 — for Scotland as Hibs legend Lawrie Reilly and good on him.
Let’s just hope this can be the prelude to him really settling into this new set-up and getting back to his best in dark blue.
Scotland players celebrate after the crucial second goal in Skopje
It marked a first win of the Sebastien Pocognoli era as Scotland boss
Angus Gunn getting a clean sheet — and a night off, pretty much — was helpful, too, after the questions asked of him following a suspect showing in last week’s 3-0 home loss to Switzerland.
Scott McKenna did get himself sent off seven minutes from time for a foul on Matej Gashtarov after a poor pass from Andy Robertson and that could be seen as one blot on the copybook.
To be honest, though, it will be nice to see someone else get a shot in the defence against the Slovenians. McKenna is not irreplaceable. Indeed, it might be good to see the promising Luke Graham, who came on last night, get his chance against Slovenia.
Luis Binks and Stephen Welsh have been newcomers to this camp, but they both did well last night and are both comfortable on the ball and relatively young. There are encouraging signs in a tricky area of the team.
One of the sweetest of the cherries plonked on the gateau last night, though, revolved around an old-stager. How nice it was that captain Robertson’s 100th cap was marked by victory.
He played like a man possessed in the early stages, to be honest. With four minutes on the clock, he moved onto a deflected low cross from Bowie and made terrific contact with the ball, forcing Dimitrievski to tip it over the crossbar.
Five minutes later, after Bowie had opened the scoring, the 32-year-old charged up that left flank like a young thing to connect with a terrific crossfield ball from deep from McGinn and leave Bojan Ilievski trailing in his wake.
The truth is, he should have played in McBurnie, who was waiting in an advantageous position inside the area. Instead, he opted to have a go himself and slid his effort wide of the far post.
Given the magnitude of the occasion for him, we’ll offer forgiveness. It should have been a goal, though.
On the other side of the field, Pocognoli brought in Ben Gannon-Doak as right wing-back and he did well. He carries a threat — and pace — that no one else in the squad does.
It is exciting when he gets on the ball. He’s different. And wonderfully dangerous. It did look like he might have won a penalty on 52 minutes when going down under a challenge from Matej Gashtarov until referee Francois Letexier was sent to the pitchside monitor and invited to change his original decision.
Bowie unleashes a superb left-foot shot that give Scotland an early lead
Those were the good things. Gannon-Doak, of course, should have put his shot on target just before the half-hour when moving onto the ball in a good area after Bowie had used his physique well to set him up with a cutback.
As for the chance he had early in the second half, when McGinn sent him straight through, he should have done a heck of a lot better than sending his shot straight at the keeper.
End product is always a mild concern when it comes to the one-time Celtic prodigy.
There’s another inconvenient issue you have to put to the back of your mind with Gannon-Doak too. He doesn’t actually start games for Bournemouth.
How is he going to become calmer and more clinical, more efficient, when he isn’t getting the chance to sharpen his teeth and his talent regularly at a high level? Indeed, can he even stay in the Scotland team when he doesn’t actually play for his club?
The future use of Gannon-Doak is a fascinating little puzzle for the new head coach. He could also play as one of two behind a main striker or even up top as part of a two. Pocognoli doesn’t appear to see him best-suited to those kind of roles, though.
Is he a better bet than Aaron Hickey at right wing-back? Against sharper opposition, the gut still says someone with more defensive capabilities is a more logical option.
There are loads of questions still rattling around regarding Pocognoli and how he finetunes his plan for the future. They can wait, though.
This was perfectly satisfactory. We can go into the visit of Slovenia feeling positive. Let’s just keep the ball rolling now.
