England 1-0 Turkey

U17 International Friendly
Notts County FC
13 December 2005

Daniel Sturridge scored in the last minute as England ended 2005 on a high.

With the game seemingly destined for stalemate, Sturridge drilled home Jamie Chandler's cross from the edge of the box in the dying moments to secure a narrow win.

Although Sturridge grabbed the headlines, it was England's two keepers David Button and Ben Amos who ensured England's victory.

Both stoppers made a number of good saves, particularly Amos who came on at half-time, before Sturridge's late intervention.

England manager John Peacock spoke to TheFA.com moments after the final whistle.

"We can play better, but you would say that we were the better side. We created more chances than they did, but we need to be more clinical with our passing," said Peacock.

"It was obvious that it was going to be a tight game and it was a mistake that decided it. But it could have been 1-0 either way."

Peacock, who took over the side at the end of the summer, saluted his goalscorer, who plays his football with Manchester City.

"As with Daniel Sturridge, he gets one chance and finishes it," added Peacock. "He’s definitely a goalscorer and has a good goals-to-games ratio. He demands high standards of himself and wants to do better, that’s a good thing."

But Peacock was equally impressed with his two men at the other end of the park – Button and Amos.

"They both did really well. David [Button] is the number one and he did what he had to do. Ben is a year younger but we knew he would do a good job."

The win capped a satisfying end to the year, although Peacock has already noted down a few pointers to work on.

"We are inconsistent – the players would agree with that, but this signs off 2005 quite nicely," he added.

England U17 v Turkey, Tuesday 13 December

England: David Button, Tottenham Hotspur (Ben Amos, Manchester United 40); Jake Thomson, Southampton; Ciaran Clark, Aston Villa; Jamie Chandler, Sunderland; James Tomkins, West Ham United; Joshua Walker, Middlesbrough (c); Lee Hales, West Ham United (Joseph Magunda, Leicester City 52); Edward Upson, Ipswich Town (Matt Richards, Derby County 40); Daniel Sturridge, Manchester City; Karl Ashton, Derby County (Michael Nardiello, Liverpool 70); Sone Aluko, Birmingham City (Topi Obadeyi, Coventry City 65).

Goals: Daniel Sturridge 80