England 1-2 Austria

UEFA Under-21 European Championship Qualifier
Leeds United FC, Elland Road
Friday 7 October 2005

Peter Taylor's Young Lions suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat against Austria after playing so well for the majority of an entertaining match at Elland Road.

Carlton Cole gave England the lead in a game in which debutants Jerome Thomas and Aaron Lennon, as well as James Milner, were all outstanding.

But the Austrians were always dangerous on the break and made England pay for missed chances with two second-half goals from Marc Janko.

Peter Taylor’s team have already qualified for the play-offs but this result means they can no longer finish top of their group, even if they beat Poland on Tuesday.

Taylor suffered a blow on the day of the game when captain Nigel Reo-Coker failed to shrug off a foot injury in time. He is likely to be fit for Tuesday but on this occasion his place went to Tom Soares of Crystal Palace, with Chelsea’s Cole promoted to captain.

The Young Lions were soon roaring and Leighton Baines saw a volley superbly saved after James Milner’s free-kick was cleared straight to him.

The opening goal came soon enough, when Milner darted down the left wing after 18 minutes. The Villa star cleverly stopped in his tracks when he reached the area, switched the ball onto his right foot and crossed perfectly for Cole to send home a textbook header.

England’s passing had a real zip to it, with Tom Huddlestone in particular swinging wonderful long-range balls across the width of the pitch and Milner outstanding on his return to Elland Road.

Lennon, the star of the second half, also impressed with his pace and trickery and the only surprise was that England didn’t score more goals.

Taylor’s men were nearly made to pay for that after 36 minutes when Gyorgy Garics, the Austrian captain, thumped a header against the bar. But the Young Lions hit the woodwork, too, when Cole’s downward header from a Baines cross was superbly tuned onto the post by keeper Ozcan.

That was a big shame because all their good work was undone after 56 minutes when a neat move saw Salzburg striker Janko walk onto a Zlatko Junuzovic pass and calmly stroke home an equaliser against the run of play.

England then had a goal disallowed when Cole fired home following a wonderfully clever chip over the defence from Lennon - only to be ruled offside.

But Austria refused to give up. England keeper Scott Carson made one smart save from Janko but when the Liverpool man managed to turn away Garics’ effort after 76 minutes the striker was on hand to slide home his second of the match.

It seemed unbelievable that England were behind after so much enterprising play. But Taylor will take heart from an entertaining and inventive display - and the fact that this was his team’s first competitive defeat of the season.

England v Austria, Euro U21 Championship Qualifier, 07 October 2005

England: Scott Carson - Liverpool; Steven Taylor - Newcastle Utd, Michael Dawson - Tottenham Hotspur, Anton Ferdinand - West Ham Utd (Ryan Taylor - Wigan Athletic, 71), Leighton Baines - Wigan Athletic; James Milner - Newcastle Utd, Tom Huddlestone - Tottenham Hotspur, Tom Soares - Crystal Palace (Luke Moore - Aston Villa, 61), Jerome Thomas - Charlton Athletic, Aaron Lennon - Tottenham Hotspur, Carlton Cole - Chelsea (Cameron Jerome - Cardiff City, 84).
Subs not used: Nedum Onuoha - Manchester City, Lee Camp - Derby County, Peter Whittingham - Aston Villa, John Welsh - Liverpool.

England Goals: Carlton Cole 18

Austria Goals: Marc Janko 56, 76

Attendance: 28,030