England LD's are top of the World

England have won the INAS FID World Football Championship for the first time in the history of learning disability football beating a Dutch team who were full of talented players at the Yokohama Stadium in front of a crowd of 24,670.

The team, ably lead by Lyndon Lynch, played with their normal passion and flair remaining the only unbeaten team in the competition scoring 42 goals and conceding only two.

This defensive record was the bedrock for which England built on, Harry Hunter, David Young, Bradley Brotherton, Malcolm Reilly and Daniel Cole performed herocially throughout the tournament with the final game seeing the defensive unit hold strong under extreme pressure from the Dutch.

In every game the Three Lions have taken an early lead and Sunday's game was no different. From a training pitch worked move, David Young launched a long throw into Whitelock at the near post who flicked on for Brian Wheeldon to head the ball over the line. A prefect start.

The next ten minutes saw England pepper Holland's goal, first Rudi Hall and then Wheeldon came close only for each chance to be wasted.

To give the Holland team credit they did not let this setback faze them and they began to exert pressure on the England goal. Khalid Hamdaaoui was a constant threat on the left hand side making life very uncomfortable for Reilly at left back.

In the 30th minutes a Hamdaoui run down the left set Omar Leona for a chance but his shot blasted high and wide. At half time England went in 1 - 0 to the good.

The first half had been a difficult time as many players showed nerves, but the second half a determine England team who fought and chased for every ball with Lee Whitelock and Paul Walters beginning to take grip of the central midfield area. Jason Wheeldon came on for the injured Malcolm Reilly at the beginning of the second half and David Young began to play further forward to counter act the threat on the left.

England played on the counter attack, Ronnie Watson began to enjoy greater freedom and the game became stretched. Both teams had committed themselves to winning the game, Hunter pulled off a excellent save in 70th minute when a Liesdek dipping shot was turned over the bar.

The turning point of the game came in the 73rd minute when Hassan Hayta was sent off for a second bookable offence. This enable Watson to exploit the vacated space and in the 85th minute with Holland in search of a equalizer England struck with the best goal of the night.

After clever play out of the back the ball was found by Whitelock, some neat inter-play between him and Rudi Hall, Ronnie Watson was released down the right and delivered a perfect cross for the on-rushing Paul Walters who finished with a powerful header. The captain had put England very close to achieving the ultimate prize.

Unfortunately Hamdaoui was sent off almost immediately for dissent but this did not deter the Dutch who scored in the 88th minute through subsitute Danny Schreurs whose turn and shot gave Hunter no chance. The 5 minutes of injury time where a nervy time for the Three Lions but they withstood the onslaught to win a truly memorable game.

As Walters and the England team stepped up to receive the cup the crowd were fully supportive of the team's effort and historic victory.

Brian Wheeldon was presented with the MVP award for the final and Rudi Hall with 11 goals received the golden boot for top scorer in the competition.

Lyndon Lynch speaking at a press conference after the game commented; "Our performance today highlights what can be achieved by players with a learning disability if they are given the opportunity to play at the highest level.

"I am proud of all the boys, not just those who played but all the squad members who were very important to our effort. No other English LD team can beat our achievement, we should all be immensely proud ".

England arrive back at Heathrow on 26 Monday at 4.30pm proud holders of the INAS FID World Cup.

Team
Harry Hunter, Daniel Cole, David Young, Bradley Brotherton, Malcolm Reilly (Jason Wheeldon, 45), Lee Whitelock, Paul Walters (c), Ronnie Watson, Sam Marks (Danny Lineker, 63), Brian Wheeldon, Rudi Hall
Subs not used: Wesley Jackman, Peter Smith, Erol Mustapha, Chris Kempsley, Charlie Goodwin, Tony Henderson, Wayne Noel.

Team Staff
Manager - Lyndon Lynch
Physio - Richard Bamford
Physio - Colin Clifford
Doctor - Brian Aarons
Psychologist - Jeff Yates
Liaison - Steve Ramage
Technical Advisor - Jeff Davis