LAST Friday night saw Scotland secure all three points in their Euro 2016 qualifying clash against the Republic of Ireland.

This was the most important of the two games that Scotland would play, there is no arguing that, but a game against England is never meaningless — especially with bragging rights at stake.

In the run-up to the clash, newspapers were filled by partisan Anglos claiming that Scotland would kick England off the park, that they are insignificant and that the Scottish leagues are no longer relevant.

That may be true but it seems that in recent years English clubs have raided north of the border, plundering the best talent available in the “irrelevant” Scottish leagues at a cut price to what they would pay for a player with the same ability on the continent or further afield.

The Scotland camp were right to come out and hit back at the snobbery of the English footballing fraternity, although I have to admit that this did not come from the England camp themselves, except for Ben Foster’s remarks.

With the comments from the Scotland squad of being “up for the game” and set to “battle” for every ball, there was a sense of expectancy rather than hope from the Tartan Army.

That may have been somewhat naive for Scotland fans to think if you were to look at both teams on paper. But after good performances in the Euro 2016 qualifiers — even the defeat to Germany — there was much positivity towards Gordon Strachan’s Scotland team.

There is nothing friendly about this rivalry and the pre-match national anthems clearly proved that, as both sets of fans booed the other’s. There were some jeers and boos through the minute’s applause for the Scotland fan who tragically lost his life on Friday night after falling to his death.

But the main focus in terms of the England fans was their anti-IRA chants and anti-Scottish chants throughout the match.

Back to the most important factor of Tuesday night and that was the football on show. Straight from kick-off England were dominant, they were hungry and they were battling for every ball — exactly what the Tartan Army had hoped to see from their side. Sadly, expectations were soon drained as their wallets had been for the ticket price.

Bar one or two individual performances Scotland were off the pace, their passing was poor, they failed to trouble keeper Fraser Forster at all — albeit Andy Robertson did bag himself a brilliant goal as his first international strike to crown off what has been a fairytale rise for the 20-year-old.

England, truth be told, were comfortable throughout and further stamped their mark on the game in the second half after Strachan substituted skipper Scott Brown.

It sticks in your throat a bit given the snobbery on show before the match, but whether the players were “spooked” by the intensity of the England side or were “mentally fatigued” from the Ireland game it was simply not good enough and certainly not value for money.

Wayne Rooney and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were the stand-outs for the England side and they deservedly got their goals. But while England swept aside Scotland with relative ease, there are still cracks evident in this team even after the rebuilding following the World Cup debacle in Brazil. But they have much to be excited about as long as their star men can be kept fit and are playing to their best.

For Scotland, it will be more about lessons learned on Tuesday night than anything else. Certain players were found out against quality opposition who put them to the sword — none more so than the defensive players.

The biggest issue is the fitness, intensity and the desire that England showed. It was in stark contrast to the Scots, who were lacking in every department and for such a game, albeit a supposed friendly, they certainly let themselves and more importantly the fans down.

Scotland has faced the wrath of English invaders and conquerors over the centuries, none more so than Edward Longshanks. But while William Wallace may have fought Scotland’s corner then, there were no Guardians of Scotland at Celtic Park on Tuesday.

The Tartan Army may have been singing O Flower of Scotland loud and proud — as well as out of time — but the Scots failed to send proud Hodgson’s army homeward to think again. The English crushed a bunch of rebellious Scots much to the delight of their fans.

It could have been worse for Scotland though. We could have been subjected to decades of 1966 references.

Oh wait!