Hungary 1-3 England

Under-19 Friendly International
Hidegkúti Stadium, Budapest, Hungary

An impressive victory for Stuart Baxter's talented England Under-19 side was rounded off in fine style with an excellent goal from Jerome Watt in the last minute.

A piercing counter attack from England saw them sweep the length of the pitch in three passes, leaving the Blackburn man all alone to sprint through the heart of the Hungarian defence and coolly round the goalkeeper to give England victory by a two goal margin.

Even without current Everton and Crystal Palace first teamers Wayne Rooney and Wayne Routledge, Baxter was able to field a strong line-up as he used this friendly to build towards November's European Championship qualifiers.

Aston Villa's Steven Ridgewell was given a debut at the heart of the defence alongside captain Glen Johnson and he responded with a fine performance which will undoubtedly have impressed a coach who is keen to assess the talent he has available to him.

With a firm foundation at the back, England imposed themselves in midfield and opened the scoring through Fulham's flying winger, Sean Doherty, just before the break.

Doherty swept in a dangerous ball from the left touchline and the movement was such that it completely bewildered the Hungarian goalkeeper who could only watch it strike the post before it rebounded into the goal off the 'keeper himself.

Buoyed by that goal just before the break, and some tactical changes by Baxter to tighten up the midfield, England dominated the early stages of the second half, getting the vital second goal through Arsenal's inform playmaker, David Bentley.

He was there to finish from close range following a swift break down the right from the Three Lions.

With Baxter taking the opportunity to look at all the members of his squad, England's rhythm suffered a little and allowed Rodenbucher to pull one back for the hosts and they went all out for the equalizer as the game drew to its conclusion.

However, England's young stars held on with a mixture of courage and skill and Watt's late third was a just reward for a high quality performance on the night.

Coach Stuart Baxter was understandably enthused by what he had seen, telling us: "What we wanted from this game more than anything else was information and that is what we've got. We've had a look at a lot of players, some of whom are new to this level while others have a little more experience.

"Make no mistake about it, there are easier games than coming to Budapest to play Hungary and they certainly wanted to win. In that context, we can take a lot from this victory and the attitude the players showed when the Hungarians were putting in some heavy tackles at 2-1.

"This Hungary side are probably on a par with the teams that we will face in the Euro Qualifiers in November so it's an encouraging start."

England: Steele (Manchester United), Hoyte (Arsenal), McKie (Spurs), Bowditch (Spurs),. Johnson.G (West Ham), Ridgewell (Aston Villa),.Croft (Manchester City), Bloomfield (Ipswich), Johnson.E (Manchester United), Bentley (Arsenal), Doherty (Fulham)
Substitutes: Camp (Derby), Mills (Derby), Whittingham (Aston Villa), Schumacher (Everton), Brown (Sunderland), Jones (Man Utd), Watt (Blackburn).

Hungary Goals: Rodenbucher

England Goals: Doherty 43, Bentley 61, Watt 89

N.B. All subs were used