Cerebral Palsy International Friendly Tournament
Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Shropshire
Friday 16 March - Sunday 18 March 2007

England Cerebral Palsy coach Paul Harrison hailed his side after they beat Finland and Holland to win the Cerebral Palsy International Friendly Tournament at Lilleshall.

The Three Lions thumped Finland 9-0 on Friday, scoring eight times in the second half, before edging out the highly regarded Dutch two days later to seal their place as tournament winners.

"It's a great confidence booster," said Harrison. "It's something for us to build on. If we play like we did against Holland there is no reason why we can't beat them again. Our result against them will send shockwaves through the CP footballing world."

England 9-0 Finland
Friday 16 March 2007

The Three Lions hit the goal trail on Friday in their opening game against Finland, scoring eight times in the second half to run out 9-0 winners.

Leading 1-0 at half-time through 18 year old debutant Wayne Ward, England clinically exposed the inexperienced Finns in the second period.

Ward added to his early goal with three more after the break, while Richard Fox also found his scoring touch, netting a hat-trick.

Andy Taylor also found the net although the highlight was the team's fifth goal - a fine team effort culminating in a beautifully weighted Ward through ball which Michael Barker finished with aplomb.

"Wayne will be a real asset to the squad," said Harrison. "I'd never seen him play before, but four goals on your debut - it doesn't get much better than that.

"There are other Wayne Wards out there - we just need to find them."

England: G Wood, S Brown, A Taylor, J Gordon, W Ward, S Prior, D Benn. Subs: L Taylor, M Barker, S Hanham, R Fox.

England 1-0 Holland
Sunday 18 March 2007

Buoyed by their excellent performance, England then upset the highly-rated Dutch thanks to Gary Davies' goal.

Having lost to the Netherlands by a four goal margin in their three previous encounters, England were in the mood to put the record straight.

England were on the front foot from the outset with Ward, Barker and Michael Wilson all going close.

The pressure promised a goal and it duly arrived in the 17th minute, when captain Davies stooped low to head in Wilson's corner.

Further chances came and went to half-time as the Dutch struggled to cope with England's high pressure game.

The second half was a more even contest as the influential Lokhoff began to prompt and probe from midfield.

However, resolute and composed England defending nullified his threat, enabling the team to keep a second successive clean sheet and in so doing establishing England as tournament winners.

"We deserved to win," said Harrison. "We played a high pressure game and it paid dividends. We should have put them out of sight in the first half, but it was an excellent team performance."

England: J Raynes, M Ellis, G Davies, M Barker, W Ward, M Wilson, R Fox. Subs G Wood, J Gordon, L Taylor.