England 3 - 0 Macedonia

European U19 Championship 2002/2003
1st Qualifying Round Mini-Tournament
Sunday 3rd November
Kidderminster Harriers FC

Stuart Baxter's promising England Under-19 team opened their European Qualification campaign in fine style on Sunday afternoon, recording a 3-0 win against Macedonia.

Injury and club commitments meant that Stuart was without many of his most experienced players including boy wonder Wayne Rooney and captain Glen Johnson but any thoughts that the Macedonians may have had that England would be severely weakened by the withdrawals were dispelled in the very first minute of the game.

Manchester United striker Eddie Johnson used his power and presence to maraud straight through the Macedonia defence and give the young lions the perfect start with his well-taken first minute effort.

Once ahead England never looked back and, with Lee Croft sparkling throughout, Baxter's side displayed the skill and verve which makes this group of young players so enjoyable to watch. Croft, who is with Manchester City, delighted the Kidderminster crowd with his individual footwork and appreciation of those around him.

His dribbles and dangerous crosses may well have led to more than the two goals England did score and, when Croft went for it himself, it took a fine save from the Macedonia 'keeper to tip his whistling effort over the bar. England superiority was rewarded on 16 minutes when Anthony McNamee's wicked corner was turned home by the visitors' own defence.

With John Welsh providing such a solid screen in front of defence, more attacking players like Arsenal's gifted playmaker David Bentley had the freedom to express themselves and cause severe problems to the opposing defence.

As the match got longer, England's superior fitness told too and it was the speedy sub Jerome Watt who stole in for a third on 83 minutes.

This was an excellent start for Baxter's men and the coach was pleased with his players after the game.

"You can see that every member of the squad is proud to play for their country and that is an excellent basis for us to work from," he told TheFA.com. "They are an ambitious and talented set of players and they have shown that once again today. Now we'll regroup, recover and prepare for the next test - Moldova on Tuesday."

England: Steele, Hoyte, Mckie, Donnelly, Mills, Ridgewell, Croft (Whittingham 85), Welsh, Johnson (Johnson 80), Bentley, McNamee (Watt 70)
Unused subs: Gardener, Camp, Schumacher, Kilgallon

Goals: Johnson 1, Own Goal 16, Watt 83

Attendance: 3,601