Dexter gets the points

England 1-0 Sweden

UEFA European U19 Championship, 2nd Qualifying Rd
Bury FC, Gigg Lane
28 March 2005

Dexter Blackstock’s last gasp goal against a solid Swedish side has given England qualification for the UEFA European U19 Championship Finals.

The Swedes came to Gigg Lane on the back of a 5-0 win against Moldova and proved equally adept at the back as Martin Hunter's team struggled to break them down.

But Blackstock showed the way with a simple tap-in from fellow substitute Will Hoskins' cross to relieve the tension in the England ranks and send them into Wednesday's clash against Moldova having already sealed qualification.

It didn't look like it was going to be so difficult as Ryan Jarvis showed up well in the opening exchanges. The Norwich youngster linked up with Arsenal's Ryan Smith on the right, playing out a pass and running into the box to meet the resulting cross with a header that gave Swedish keeper Par Hansson an early test.

David Martin was soon in action at the other end though, getting down well to take the ball off Ola Toivonon's toes as he broke dangerously into the penalty box on the left.

Goal chances were at a premium after that and neither keeper was exactly overtaxed, but Toivonon and Patrick Amooh were a constant menace up front for Sweden and kept the England back four on their toes.

The deadlock hadn't been broken by half-time and the pattern of the game was much the same as the second half got under way. Defences were in charge and both teams were having to work hard to create any openings.

Dean Bowditch, who had been having a quiet night, had a great chance to change all that in the 53rd minute when wingers Lee Holmes and Ryan Jarvis combined well to set him up with a chance that the Ipswich striker, currently on loan at Burnley, fired just wide of the right-hand post.

That was Bowditch's last opportunity as he was replaced by Dexter Blackstock 11 minutes later. The Southampton man's Premiership experience should have made all the difference at this level, but he failed to find the net with England's best chance of the night in the 72nd minute when Jarvis squared the ball to him right in front of goal.

He more than made up for it though with that dramatic late winner, and was delighted that his goal will take England into the summer’s Finals in Belfast:

"You try and make an impact when you come off the bench, so it was nice to get on the scoresheet," he said.

"After 85 minutes I started to think it would be one of those days, but thanks to a great ball from Will I was able to get the all important goal – we would have had to score a lot against Moldova if we’d drawn!

"All in all it was a great team performance, and we’re very happy to go through."

Winger Lee Holmes, who was a constant thorn in the side of the Swedish back four echoed his sentiments, saying: "We’re delighted to go through, especially having scored so late.

"I think a few of the lads thought it was over as the game neared the end. I looked over and saw it was 88 on the clock but we managed to keep pushing forward and Will put in a great cross which Dexter couldn’t really fail to score from.

"It’ll be great to play against the top players in the world in the summer. The big names will be thereand I’m glad our name will be in the hat."

Coach Martin Hunter was equally pleased with the win: "I was delighted with this performance and keeping a clean sheet, and especially delighted for Will Hoskins who put in a great ball for the goal.

"The whole squad have been brilliant - even the boys who haven’t played yet have been working their socks off. They deserve the chance to play in the European Championships.

"We want to finish this tournament by winning three matches and we will be as thoroughly professional against Moldova on Wednesday as we have been so far."

England U19s v Sweden, Bury, 28 March 2005

England: David Martin - MK Dons, Phil Ifil - Tottenham Hotspur, Matthew Mills - Southampton, Martin Cranie - Southampton, Andrew Taylor - Middlesbrough, Ryan Smith - Arsenal (William Hoskins - Rotherham Utd, 88), Richard Jones - Manchester Utd, Grant Leadbitter - Sunderland, Lee Holmes - Derby County, Ryan Jarvis - Norwich City, Dean Bowditch - Ipswich Town (Dexter Blackstock - Southampton, 64).
Subs not used: Tom Heaton - Manchester United, Andrew Taylor - Blackburn Rovers, David Wheater - Middlesbrough, Asa Hall - Birmingham City, Laurence Wilson - Everton.