England 4-0 Holland

Madejski Stadium, Reading

A majestic opening to David Platt's reign as England Under-21 coach saw his young side dismantle Holland in a comprehensive 4-0 victory at Reading's Madejski Stadium on Tuesday night.

An early thunderbolt from Darius Vassell set the ball rolling before further strikes from Jermain Defoe (2) and Malcolm Christie gave the scoreline a more emphatic look as England outplayed what was a highly gifted young Dutch side.

Platt revealed after the game that he had told his players "to go out there and express themselves" and none did that more so than Aston Villa striker Darius Vassell who wowed the near 20,000 crowd with strike of stunning velocity and movement on six minutes. Having received a pass from Luke Chadwick some 25 yards from goal, Vassell turned 360 degrees before unleashing a left foot drive which powered past Dorus de Vries in to the top right hand corner of the net.

It was a deserved reward for the Aston Villa front man whose skill and sharpness consistently troubled the Dutch defence before an injury saw him substituted on 49 minutes.

The early goal settled any nerves there may have been and England continued to dominate for most of the first half. Sean Davis's powerful presence in the middle of the pitch held things firm and allowed the creative talents of Chadwick and Greening to flourish in their free-running flank roles.

Chadwick in particular looked to have the beating of almost any player on the pitch when in possession. His direct and skilful approach to the game is refreshing and the Manchester United winger is genuinely a pleasure to watch when in full flow. He may have a modern legend in Ryan Giggs currently standing between him and a regular spot in the Champions' first team, but this season Chadwick will be looking to build upon the sizable progress that he made last year.

Brian Clough once famously said "it only takes a second to score a goal" but even the legendary Nottingham Forest manager would have been impressed by Jermain Defoe's speed in getting himself on the scoresheet at the Madejski. Having come on as a 49th minute substitute for Vassell, the livewire West Ham forward had put England 2-0 up within four seconds of his arrival onto the pitch.

Jonathan Greening curled a free-kick to the far post where captain John Terry rose highest to head powerfully back across goal. Dutch substitute goalkeeper Serge van den Ban could only parry Terry's effort and Defoe, as always, was in exactly the right place to fire home the loose ball.

"It was a good substitution," Platt quipped after the game, but the England coach will be lucky if all his managerial decisions pay such immediate dividends.

England's only genuine moment of danger came in the 58th minute when Arjen Robben saw his lobbed effort hit the top of the crossbar. Robben is a name we can expect to hear a lot more of in the future. The Dutch winger, who was still eligible to play in last season's UEFA Under-16 European Championships, is rated as one of Holland's finest prospects and was unlucky not have scored having dissected the England defence with his incisive run.

With Holland pushing for a goal to get themselves back into the game, England were happy enough to play on the break and, with Derby's Seth Johnson regularly able to switch play fully 50 and 60 yards to the right flank, the game began to open up as it entered its final stages.

In the 87th minute, Defoe turned provider to release Malcolm Christie through on goal. The Derby striker is natural finisher and had no trouble in drawing the goalkeeper before calmly side footing the ball home.

With the score at 3-0 and only two minutes remaining on the clock, Platt seemed destined to open his account as England Under-21 coach with the exact same scoreline that Sven-Goran Eriksson enjoyed when his Senior side beat Spain in his first game in charge in February.

However, that was to reckon without arch poacher Jermain Defoe's unceasing desire to score goals. It may have been the 90th minute but Defoe could sniff there was one more goal there for the taking when he sprinted onto a ball in the inside left channel. He went on to open up his body before angling an inch-perfect effort in to the far right hand corner.

"Once he was in the clear you just knew it was going to end up in the net," commented Platt who knows a thing or two himself about having an eye for goal at international level.

So will the watching Sven-Goran Eriksson feel that any of these talented young hopefuls have what it takes to make it to the top of the international ladder?

"A few of them will have done themselves no harm whatsoever," was Platt's cautiously optimistic response.

Indeed, with a 4-0 victory from his first ever game in charge of an England side, it is fair to say that Mr Platt did himself no harm on the night either.