San Marino

0-1

England

 

 

Morrisey 83


Amateur International Friendly
8.30pm, Saturday 10 March 2007
Olympic Stadium, San Marino

The England Amateur XI, represented by the Isle of Man League, earned a hard fought 1-0 victory in San Marino on Saturday night.

The match, played in the Republic’s superb Olympic Stadium, provided a useful exercise as the team continue their preparations for the forthcoming UEFA Regions Cup Group 4 fixtures in the Czech Republic.

The action started with England, wearing red, pushing forward at every opportunity and they almost took the lead after ten minutes when, following a neat passing movement, Chris Bass powered through the home defence. However, an excellent, last-ditch challenge by Gianlucca Bollini forced the ball away for a corner.

San Marino’s only chance of note during a first half dominated by England came on 17 minutes when Shabani turned his man on the corner of the box and fired an excellent volley just wide of the visitor’s goal.

The Three Lions came close to taking the lead in the 29th minute when a corner taken by the impressive Bass was met by skipper Nigel Shimmin -Francessconi clearing his header off the line.

England also had a good claim for a penalty turned down just before the break when Julian Ringham appeared to be fouled as he broke into the home area.

San Marino made a number of changes at half time, one of which had a limited impact on the match as substitute goalkeeper Daniel Ceccoli was shown the red card following a clash with Callum Morrisey.

Facing ten men Kevin Manning's side should have pressed home their advantage but failed to finish off their hosts.

With the game heading for a draw Morrisey finally made the breakthrough skipping a couple of challenges and firing home from close range with seven minutes remaining.

The goal forced the home side to attack and the final few minutes saw them press for an equaliser, but England held on to celebrate their first victory.

Manning was delighted with the win and the character his side showed as they build-up to the UEFA Regions Cup fixtures.

“It gave me the opportunity to look at a couple of new players before I finalise my strongest eleven," he said.

"This match has been a steep learning curve, especially being exposed to the gamesmanship of the San Marino side. We had 90% of the game and a more realistic score line would have been 3-0. I was pleased with the personal discipline of the players under provocation.

"The meetings with The FA staff have highlighted a number of issues as we move forward. The next few weeks are important and we now have to fine-tune the squad without overdoing the physical work.

"We still need to move up another level if we are to be successful and qualify for the UEFA Finals”

Manning added: “I know we can defend a lead if we get in front but we must be more emphatic in our attacking play.”

England
Mark Blair (Grant Dawson, 88), Julian Ringham (Mark Teare, 88), Daniel Lace, Sean Quaye, Nigel Shimmin (Michael Hooper, 90), Lee Dixon (Jim Travers, 46), Kevin Megson (Paul Jones, 58), John Myers (Nick Hurt, 46), Ross Williamson (Martin Reilly, 68), Callum Morrisey, Chris Bass.

Images: ppauk.com