Wales

0-3

England NGXI

 

Gareth Seddon 12, 77, Mitchell Cole 70,

Four Nations Tournament
Clachnacuddin FC 
Sunday 27 May 2007

England triumphed in Inverness on Sunday sweeping past Wales 3-0 to claim the Four Nations Tournament in style.

England took the lead on 12 minutes when Hyde United’s Gareth Seddon fired in a tremendous shot from 20 yards which took a slight deflection and looped over the stranded Tony Roberts in the Welsh goal.

Two minutes later goalkeeper Lance Cronin was carried off and taken to hospital. Happily he was not seriously injured and returned to see the end of the game.

Cronin replacement was Scott Tynan. The Welsh almost equalised five minutes before half time when Newport County’s Craig Hughes crashed a 20-yard free kick off the bar.

With 65 minutes gone Paul Fairclough replaced John Grant with Mitchell Cole and the Stevenage star took only five minutes to put the game beyond Wales scoring his fourth goal of the Tournament rounding off a move that saw a Southam shot parried by Roberts.

England made it 3-0 with 13 minutes left when Gareth Seddon scored, arguably, the goal of the week. Showing the grit and determination that Fairclough’s squad had shown all week, Glen Southam gallantly chased back the length of the field to win the ball from a Welsh attacker.

He played the ball to Molesley who found Seddon free down the left. The Hyde striker picked out Southam sprinting forward who in turn laid into space for Seddon to shoot from the edge of the box – truly a goal fit to grace any stage.

Manager Paul Fairclough was clearly delighted with the week’s work: “Before the Tournament I stated that this was the strongest side, physically, that we have chosen.

“What was clear during the week was that they were also a talented squad. The squad gelled into a club-like atmosphere from day one. Everyone connected with the squad played its part both on and off the pitch,” he added.

“I could ask for no more than three wins and three clean sheets.”

Team: Cronin (Tynan 14 mins), Yates, Nicholson, Quinn (Ashton 85 mins), Bishop (Molesley 74 mins), Charnock, Southam, Carden, Grant (Cole 65 mins), Seddon, Burgess

England's Tournament Goalscorers: Mitchell Cole 4, Gareth Seddon 2, John Ashton, Andy Burgess, John Grant, Glen Southam and Matthew Tubbs 1 each

(Photos www.ppauk.com)