England 5-0 Slovakia

Group 6, European Under-17s Championship Qualifier
Friday 14th March 2003, 7pm
Reebok Stadium, Bolton Wanderers FC

North-east boys Steven Taylor and Grant Leadbitter combined to set England on the way to a comprehensive victory against Slovakia in a European under-17 championship qualifier on Friday night.

Captain Taylor of Newcastle fired the opening goal in a 5-0 England victory and he was quickly joined on the scoresheet by Grant Leadbitter of Sunderland.

The young lions will aim to make it nine points out of nine when they meet Scotland at Tranmere Rovers FC on Sunday.

Following their 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic on Wednesday night and buoyed on by an enthusiastic Reebok crowd, England took the initiative from the opening whistle.

Even though John Peacock made five changes with the Scotland game in mind, the team were expected to take maximum points against a Slovakian team who had opened their group account with a 0-0 draw with the Scots.

Luke Moore, who is at Aston Villa with elder brother Stefan, combined early on with James Morrison to force the game's first corner after seven minutes and it led to the opening goal.

Morrison's header hit the crossbar and while the Slovakian defence hesitated, England skipper Taylor burst in to prod the ball home from close range. 

With the goal settling home nerves, the impressive Morrison tried an ambitious bending shot from 25 yards that hit the side netting.

But as a warning, Slovakia launched their first cohesive attack after 19 minutes and made a succession of clever passes before striker Josef Halaska had his shot charged down.

England scored their second goal after 20 minutes and inevitably Morrison started the move with a clever back heel. Sunderland's Leadbitter raced into the penalty area to collect and finished with a low shot to add to his three goals last term for England under-16s.

Within a couple of minutes it was 3-0. Morrison - completely unplayable to the Slovakian defence - ran them ragged once again before slipping a pass into the path of Lee Holmes. The Derby County forward did the rest with a fantastic shot from 25 yards that had his team-mates running from all corners of the pitch to join in the goal celebration.

Moore, an FA Youth Cup winner last season at Villa, was desperate to join in the scoring act and couldn't believe his ill-fortune when a clever dink over goalkeeper Tomas Kosigky rebounded off the crossbar in the 27th minute. Leadbitter then stung the keeper's hands with a fierce effort from just outside the box before Moore created the fourth goal with a direct run to the right-hand edge of the penalty area; and when he fired across the six-yard line Pavol Mackovcin couldn't get out the way and turned the ball in for an own goal.

Slovakia had a rare attack when Martin Bartos whipped in a cross that had Taylor thankful his interception ended up in goalkeeper Thomas Heaton's hands.

With a comfortable half-time cushion, manager Peacock introduced Jonathan Forte of Sheffield United at the interval to play on the left side of midfield, although he later switched into the middle when Aaron Lennon was brought on for poor Moore - the Villa striker somehow seeing a shot saved at point-blank range after being set up by Stuart Giddings.

Perhaps it was inevitable that England would take their foot off the pedal in a relatively uneventful second half even though the arrival of Aaron Lennon provided some excitement on the left flank.

Slovakia enjoyed plenty of possession for the first time although Taylor and company remained strong at the back to protect Heaton keeping England's fourth clean sheet in succession.

Lennon won the 72nd minute free-kick which led to England's fifth goal, the little Leeds man striking the post and Taylor on the spot again to score his second goal of the game - not bad for a central defender!

From Joe Bernstein at The Reebok Stadium

Teams

England:
Thomas Heaton, Philip Ifil, Stuart Giddings, Mark Noble, Steven Taylor, James Morrison, Nathan Doyle, Luke Moore (Aaron Lennon 56), Anthony McMahon, Grant Leadbitter (Jamie O'Hara 58), Lee Holmes (Jonathan Forte 40)
Subs not used: David Martin, Martin Cranie, Andrew Taylor, Ryan Jarvis

Goals:  Taylor 7, 72, Leadbitter 20, Holmes 22, Mackovcin (og) 32

Slovakia: Kosigky, Pekarik, Mackovcin, Linther, Janek, Izvolt, Bernat, Bartos, Gajdos, Piroska, Halaska
Subs: Hrdlicka, Sebik, Lisivka, Levicky, Hovisedlak, Hagara, Kubanka