Northern Ireland 1-3 England

Victory Shield
Glenavon FC, Lurgan
04 November 2004

England Under-16s proved their strength in depth as Southampton's Jake Thomson inspired them to a 3-1 victory over Northern Ireland - but coach Kenny Swain admits they rode their luck.

Thomson scored two goals in the Victory Shield fixture to guarantee England all three points last night, even though Swain made wholesale changes from the side that thrashed Wales 5-1.

But it was by no means an easy night as the Young Lions were forced to surrender possession and soak up Northern Ireland pressure for lengthy periods at Mourneview Park, home of Irish League Premier Division side Glenavon FC.

England’s clinical finishing in front of goal proved the deciding factor in the contest, with Northern Ireland seeing two efforts come back off the crossbar.

Swain said: "The game was far, far closer than the score-line suggested. Northern Ireland have been very bright and worked very hard tonight. They’ve done their country proud.

"They competed better than us, and have peppered our goal more than we have peppered theirs.

"They really caused us problems in the first half, and got the goal in the second half that their first half performance really deserved.

"At times we showed some good composed play, but didn’t exactly cause them too many problems."

Wholesale changes were made to the England team which annihilated Wales 5-1 last month, demonstrating the strength in depth Swain has at his disposal, having more 5,000 secondary schools nationwide that he can draw players from.

He said: "We have learnt that we have got a very extensive squad that can really compete at this level, and so we want to give as many boys as possible the opportunity to play."

Three players retained their shirts from that emphatic win in Llanelli. Captain Josh Walker of Middlesbrough gave a calm and assured performance in the heart of defence and Everton full-back Lee Molyneux meandered forward to link defence with attack and provide useful ammunition down the left flank, when possible.

Jake Thomson, the third player to keep his place in the side, played a key role in all three England goals.

The Southampton midfielder bagged two goals, including one direct from a corner, making him England’s top-scorer in the competition, as well as providing the free-kick which allowed the uncompromising and imposing figure of Manchester United centre-back Adrian Bellamy the opportunity to head home from close range in the dying minutes to seal victory.

Northern Ireland’s Clarke Simpson had made the score 2-1 with a glancing header, and his team were unlucky not to score again when Arsenal’s versatile defender Paul Rodgers cleared off the line.

Having been fortunate to come away from Lurgan with all three points, Swain now takes his troops to Blackpool's Bloomfield Park to play Scotland in three weeks, hoping for a more convincing performance and needing only a point to guarantee the Victory Shield outright.

"We obviously want to push players on further now and the Scotland game will give us another test and hopefully a little bit more joy," he said.

Northern Ireland Goals: Simpson 75

England Goals: Thomson 9, 27, Bellamy 88