England 2-0 China

The Montaigu Tournament
Wednesday 12 April 2006
Mouilleron Le Captif

England kicked off their campaign in The Montaigu Tournament with a strong victory over China, although Coach Kenny Swain feels that there is more to come from his young side.

With Leeds United's Danny Rose taking two goals inside the first quarter of the game it had looked like England would rack up a big scoreline in the opening game of the friendly tournament.

The fact that England only triumphed by two goals was down to some resilient Chinese defending, and an excellent penalty save in the second half that denied Rhys Murphy scoring a third goal.

Kenny Swain said: "We were a little surprised by their style of play, and I think that took our players some time to get to grips with it. Although the early goals did help us, with Danny taking both goals very well.

"We have never played them before though so we can certainly learn from tonight's game, I do think that the next game with France will provide a really exciting game of football and it is a massive test for the boys.

"This is basically a dry run for the players ahead of the European Championships at Under-17 level for them a year from now, and the quality could not be any better.

"We are very grateful to be invited to this tournament every year, and when you look at the opponents - France, Italy, Portugal - these are the very best teams at Youth level. It is the perfect preparation for the lads and I hope we can be successful here."

England U16s: Jason Steele (Middlesbrough), Seth Ofori-Twumasi (Chelsea), James Reid (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Spence (West Ham United), Jonathan Franks (Middlesbrough), Rhys Murphy (Arsenal) (Ashley Chambers (Leicester City) 74), Michael Woods (Chelsea) (Tom Taiwo (Chelsea) 61), Danny Rose (Leeds United (Tom Elliott (Leeds Unite) 68), Moses Barnett (Arsenal) (Joe Mattock (Leicester City) 44), Steven Clancy (Aston Villa), Henri Lansbury (Arsenal) (Tom Harvey (West Ham United) 27)

Goals: Rose 2, 16