Acrobatic end but Scots now need to jump through hoops

Having lost 2-1 in Tbilisi last month, Paterson's strike after a rehearsed free-kick from his fellow substitute Kenny McLean was almost as crucial a late intervention from the player as the fine headed goal which settled an Edinburgh derby in Hearts' favour earlier in the season.

Not that anything gets any easier from here on in. With Slovakia and Netherlands drawing 2-2, Scotland will need to win all three of their remaining matches - starting with the Dutch in Paisley in March - to retain any hopes of a play-off place. "It was a difficult night for a lot of our players," admitted Stark. "But I think they got the reward they deserve for their effort in the second half.

"Callum gives us an aerial threat in the box, which proved crucial with getting the equalising goal. But the crucial thing was maintaining our unbeaten home record in qualifiers. We always knew it was a real tough group but at the moment 16 points is still gettable and that gives us a chance of qualifying."

If Scotland do miss out, at least most of this group will still be around for the next campaign. That includes Ryan Gauld, Scottish football's latest hottest property, whose first start at this level was the headline pre-match news, the 17-year-old playing to an audience which included watching Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert and the senior Scotland coaching staff. Gauld was accommodated in an advanced central role, in front of his clubmate and Scotland captain Stuart Armstrong, while there was also a first start for another colleague, Andrew Robertson, at left-back.

The more discerning visitors to St Mirren Park, however, would also have paid heed to Gauld's diminutive doppleganger in the Georgia line-up. His name was Jano Ananidze and, at times prior to a loan move to Russian outfit FC Rostov, the 21-year-old had been keeping Aiden McGeady out of the Spartak Moscow team. Hailed as the heir to Georgi Kinkladze, he has more than 20 appearances for the full side and the fact he was here at all showed how seriously the Georgians were taking this whole business.

Some 10 minutes before half-time, he had a major hand in the goal which gave Scotland a mountain to climb. Ananidze picked up a loose ball on half way and drove on before feeding a reverse pass to Giorgi Chanturia - one of two Vitesse Arnhem players in the Georgian line-up - who twisted before firing in a low shot which went in off the foot of the post.

All the Scots had to show for a lively start were a few half chances here and there. Callum McGregor, on-loan at Notts County from Celtic, might have pulled the trigger when the ball came to him in the box, and Armstrong had no luck despite a fine slaloming run in the penalty area. But Stevie May's touch, so sure this season, was deserting him.

The Georgians had convincingly won last month and, as the second half began, they showed the steel to go with their silk. Valeri Qazaishvili, who also plays his club football in Arnhem, was booked for a rough one on Robertson and Dylan McGeouch limped off with a nasty looking ankle knock to be replaced by St Mirren's McLean. Gauld, meanwhile, flitted in and out of the game, and often found himself out-muscled by a land of giants in the Georgian backline.

Jordan Archer's goal survived a few fraught moments during the second half. Ananidze twice forced saves from the Tottenham Hotspur player, then in the dying minutes substitute Giorgi Kvilitalia was somehow defied after Archer's own fluffed kick out. At the other end, a piledriver from some range from Stuart Findlay almost gave the Scots an undeserved win, but the home side were thankful enough for the salvation provided by the acrobatics of Paterson. Whether it ultimately is enough, is anyone's guess.