New look Scotland under-21's lose to Northern Ireland
Scot Gemmill's new Scotland crop were given a tough introduction to Under-21 action as they were edged out 2-1 by Northern Ireland.
Gemmill named a team boasting just 18 caps at this age level - with all of them belonging to Glenn Middleton and Stephen Kelly - as he began preparations for September's European Championship qualifiers.
But it was the visitors who drew first blood in this friendly double-header at Dumbarton's C&G Systems Stadium thanks to goals from Dale Taylor and Barry Baggley.
Former St Johnstone ace Middleton was back on penalty duties after his Scottish Cup final miss but his successful spot-kick was not enough for the hosts.
Scotland will be hoping to avoid another dose of heartbreak after missing out on this summer's Euros in Slovenia and Hungary with defeat to Greece in their final qualifier.
They kick off their next qualifying bid with trips to Turkey and Denmark and this was a chance for Gemmill to check out a raft of his new recruits, including Athletic Bilbao B striker Ewan Urain.
Andy Crosby's team had a narrow advantage in the experience stakes with a starting line-up containing 24 caps and that extra nous showed as they grabbed the lead inside nine minutes.
Nottingham Forest left-back Aaron Donnelly threw over a wicked delivery which took the hesitant Stephen Welsh out of the equation, leaving City Ground colleague Taylor to fire past Cieran Slicker with a deft finish.
Scotland took their time to get up a head of steam as they played into a strong wind.
But the swirling gusts came to their aid 10 minutes before the break as Jack Burroughs' ball down the line held up in the air.
Northern Ireland captain Kofi Balmer got himself hopelessly lost tracking the flight of the ball before turning round to barge into the back of Urain just inside the box.
And Middleton shrugged off any lingering doubt following his Hampden blunder as he swept home from 12 yards.
The Scots came close to grabbing the lead when Sean Stewart cleared Scott Banks' header off the line.
Instead they found themselves behind as the whistle went when Welsh's failure to deal with a high ball left Scotland exposed at the back and Taylor ruthlessly exploited it as he slid in Baggley to finish with a neat dink over Slicker.
Urain came close to squaring it up again for the Scots early in the second half but was first denied by Donnelly's vital block before goalkeeper Dermot Mee got fingertips to another strike.
Scotland defender Robbie Deas survived a late penalty shout after a clear handball, while substitute Zak Rudden of Partick Thistle headed a stoppage-time chance against a post.
But Northern Ireland had already done enough to claim the bragging rights ahead of Saturday's rematch.