England U21 1 Yugoslavia U21 1

David Platt's newly assembled side went in to this match with the aim of preparing for the forthcoming qualifying campaign. A crowd of 10,511 saw England start brightly and hold the ball well but they could not find an early breakthrough.

In a first half of few opportunities, England made early progress down the right flank, where the pace and trickery of Jermaine Pennant showed promise, however the Arsenal winger did not see the ball enough throughout the half to constantly threaten.

It was the Yugolavs that had the best of the chances in the opening half an hour, with Chris Kirkland making a couple of smart saves to keep score sheet empty. In the sixth minute, Nemanja Vidic had a downward header stopped acrobatically by Kirkland who steered the ball wide of his left hand post. Kirkland cleared the resulting inswinging corner, punching clear.

Srdjan Novkovic was a constant threat throughout the half with his pace and well timed breaks from midfield.  The midfielder who plays his club football in Italy with FC Varese, went close after only seven minutes, his well-struck shot was parried by Kirkland and the England defence cleared the danger.

The visitors then had a claim for a penalty as Mitar Novakovic surged into penalty area and fell under close attention from Barry, but the referee was unmoved.

Titus Bramble performed well under when called upon in the first half, finding himself as the last defender he intercepted and cleared well to keep the Yugoslavs at bay.

England had a glorious chance to take the lead on 26 minutes after goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic strangely picked up a back pass giving England an indirect free kick only 10 yards out. He made amends however, charging down the resulting indirect free kick, blocking Jermain Defoe's effort with his legs.

Paul Konchesky was finding room on the left and in the 29th minute found Francis Jeffers who turned well on the edge of the 18 yard box, only to see Poleksic hold his well struck shot. Jeffers went close again ten minutes later, as Barry's deep cross was nodded down by the soaring Defoe. It fell in to the path of the Arsenal striker who could only stretch and poke the ball wide of the target.

In the 41st minute England found themselves a goal down. Danko Lazovic collected the ball 30 yards from goal, set himself and rocketed ball past the helpless Kirkland. The goal was reward for some positive, slick first half moves by the Yugoslav's, who had defended patiently as England had the majority of the possession and then struck well on the break.

England almost equalised on the stroke of half time as Konchesky's curled free kick from 25 yards looked destined for the top corner until Poleksic managed to leap across goal and claw the ball away for a corner.

The away side made two changes at half time bringing on Vladimir Dislyenkovic in goal and Branko Bakovic for the effective Novkovic, which would have been a relief to the English defence. However, a slip on the hour by Konchesky almost let the Yugoslavs double their advantage, as Lazovic broke free on the right, cut the ball back invitingly for Andrija Delibasic, but the FK Obilic striker blazed over from 12 yards out.

The second half saw England lift numerous balls in to the danger area but they were often too close to substitute 'keeper Dislyenkovic who dealt well with everything that was thrown at him.

The second half saw a further nine substitutions, five by England. Stuart Parnaby, Joleon Lescott, Shola Ameobi, Matthew Etherington and Shaun Wright-Phillips all saw second half action and it was the diminutive Manchester City winger that pulled England level with 10 minutes remaining.

Good work by Jermaine Jenas found Wright-Phillips in space on the right hand side of the penalty area, from where he powerfully shot low in to the far corner of the net. The coolness with which he found the target having only been on the field for a few minutes would have impressed manager David Platt. There may also have been roars heard in the Austrian Alps where Shaun's father, Ian, is currently taking part in a Harley-Davidson rally!

The match was almost won by England deep in to injury time as Lescott out-jumped the 'keeper only for his header to clip the top of the crossbar. That would have been hard on Yugoslavia who gave a good account of themselves and tested the new look England side.

With encouraging performances from a number of players David Platt will be happy to have seen that the future can be bright and Dave Sexton may also make similar recommendations, having been present to report back to the senior team.

England team:

Kirkland, Samuel (Parnaby), Konchesky (Lescott), Jenas, Bramble, Barry, Pennant (Wright-Phillips), Carrick, Jeffers, Defoe (Ameobi), Prutton (Etherington)

Goals: Wright-Phillips