England see off Serbians

England 3-1 Serbia and Montenegro

UEFA European U17 Championship
Britannia Stadium, Stoke
26 March 2005

England recovered from an early setback to run-out convincing winners of their opening UEFA European U17 Championship qualifier at the Britannia Stadium.

John Peacock's lads were rocked in the seventh minute when Goran Antelj was allowed too much time and space at the edge of the penalty area.

The striker's shot lacked venom, but the ball took a wicked deflection off Michael Mancienne to leave David Button stranded.

England responded with wave after wave of attacks with the fleet-footed skills of Mark Davies, Myles Weston and Theo Walcott particularly prominent.

Weston squandered an excellent chance to equalise in the 18th minute when he skied Joe Garner's cross from only four yards out.

And Davies scorned another gilt-edged opportunity from close range before England's pressure was rewarded with two goals in three minutes.

Weston atoned for his earlier miss when he placed a cool left foot finish from Walcott's pinpoint delivery from the right in the 35th minute.

And it was Walcott who added the second when he raced clear from Hogan Ephraim's outstanding pass to loft his shot beyond the advancing Marko Knezeviv.

Serbia and Montenegro made two substitutions at the break with Slobodan Lakicevic and Rodoljub Marjanovic replaced by Zoran Milovac and Miralem Sulejmani.

And Sulejmani came desperately close to a 56th minute equaliser when he latched onto Nenad Harihkovic's pass and crashed a left foot shot against the base of a post.

But England soon regained their composure and were back in the ascendancy by the time Garner made the game as good as safe nine minutes later.

Weston produced a sublime piece of skill to outwit full-back Zarko Ciric and flight a perfect cross which Garner headed home from six yards.

England debutant James Vaughan, a 70th minute replacement for Garner, almost added a fourth in the last minute when his close range shot was touched against the post by the diving Knezevic.

After the match, John Peacock told TheFA.com: "I warned the players we needed to make a solid start and obviously it was very disappointing to go behind so early on.

"But I have to give the lads a lot of credit for the way they responded. They trust and have confidence in each other as a group and that really showed.

"We created a lot of chances and kept going despite missing some really good ones. There is an excellent spirit and great belief in the camp and that is backed up by a lot of ability.

"It's a great start to the group against a very good side, but that's all. I said it would take three disciplined and quality performances and there is still two more to go.

"A lot of the Irish lads play in the Academies of Premier League clubs so they will be organised, talented and difficult to beat."

England U17 v Serbia & Montenegro, Stoke, 26 March 2005