England 1-1 Turkey

U17 International Tournament 2007
7.45pm, Friday 31 August 2007
Adams Park, Wycombe Wanderers FC

Substitute Adam Phillip climbed off the bench to help England U17s secure a 1-1 draw with Turkey in their second match of this season’s International Tournament at Adams Park.

Noel Blake’s side thoroughly deserved the result and a sound team performance capped a good week for the youngsters.

But the result could have actually been even better for the Young Lions after they created a handful of first half chances.

In fact England almost enjoyed a perfect start when Newcastle’s Ryan Donaldson connected with a cross from Tottenham’s Dean Parrett and hit the woodwork after only five minutes.

The hosts went close again ten minutes later when Leicester’s Luke O’Neill was thwarted by a fine save from Turkey goalkeeper Umutcan Yuksel after a deep corner from Manchester United’s Nicky Ajose.

But despite their dominance, England fell behind when Turkey took the lead against the run of play mid-way through the first half.

Ali Kucik latched onto a long ball over the top and he squared for Soner Aydogdu to fire past Birmingham City goalkeeper Dean Lyness.

Nevertheless the Young Lions responded well and, two minutes later, were almost on level terms. An enterprising move on the edge of the box between Donaldson and Chelsea’s Jacob Mellis saw the latter break clear, but Yuksel saved bravely at his feet.

But it was the introduction of Chelsea prodigy Phillip that finally helped England get back on level terms. The striker’s first time volley flew into the net and marked a tremendous comeback from coach Noel Blake’s side.

"I’m pleased with the character and spirit we showed to come back from 1-0 down," said Blake. "Turkey are a good side, they used the ball very well and competed equally as well. We tried to play but I didn’t feel that we competed enough.

"But I was very pleased with the second half though. We’ve got some very good technical players in this group, but you have to earn the right to play."

Even though Chelsea youngster Phillip grabbed the attention with an eye-catching goal, Blake felt that Charlton defender Chris Solly deserved recognition for his display.

He added: "I thought Chris at right back had a very good test against a strong left winger. He stuck with the task and showed good character, even though he had a real battle on his hands.

"Adam took his goal well after he came on and there were some other good individual performances, but we know we can do better."

Teams

England
Dean Lyness (Birmingham City), Chris Solly (Charlton Athletic), Ben Gordon (Chelsea), Chris Stokes (Bolton Wanderers), Luke O’Neill (Leicester City), Matthew James (Manchester United), Dean Parrett (Tottenham Hotspur), John Bostock (Crystal Palace), Jacob Mellis (Chelsea) (Adam Phillip, Chelsea 53), Ryan Donaldson (Newcastle United), Nicky Ajose (Manchester United) (Andros Townsend, Tottenham Hotspur 73).
Subs not used Declan Rudd (Norwich City), Oliver Norwood (Manchester United), Cameron Stewart (Manchester United),), Matthew Briggs (Fulham), Mitchell McPike (Birmingham City).

Goals: Adam Phillip

Turkey
Umutcan Yuksel, Semih Kaya, Ozgur Cek, Emrah Yollu, Sertac Eren, Abdulkadir Kayali, Soner Aydogdu, Cem Sultan, Eren Albayrak, Ismail Haktan Odabasi, Ali Kucik.
Subs: Muhammed Demir, Tolga Mertogun, Metin Ucar, Berk Nezirogullari, Mahmut Boz, M. Olcaytu Ergen, Ismail Aslan.

Goals: Soner Aydogdu

Attendance 1,827