Kenny pleased with Young Lions
Thursday, 24 March, 2011
Head Coach happy with performance in Belfast.
England U16s Head Coach Kenny Swain saw his team collect their first win of this season's Victory Shield campaign on Wednesday night and he admitted he was pleased with most aspects of the Young Lions' display.
Goals from Devante Cole, Jack Jebb and Joe Rothwell were enough to see off a spirited Northern Ireland side in Ballymena and Swain's team can now win their tenth straight Victory Shield with a win over Scotland in Morecambe next week.
The Sky Sports-sponsored competition is usually wrapped up by Christmas, but this season's Shield has seen two of England's games postponed with this match twice falling victim to the weather in December.
“Seeing as we have tried to get the game on twice in the past, to do as well as the boys did tonight, with a completely new squad it was always going to be difficult," said Swain.
"It’s a testament to how the boys have approached the game and training for such a short period of time, two days, they have done really well.
“Apart from the first ten minutes when it was a bit feisty, I thought Northern Ireland put us under a bit of pressure but after that we had the game well under control and we were comfortable winners in the end.
“The boys have that natural ingredient and they all want to win, we will be looking at another 18 different players next week, taking it up to the 40 mark for the competition.
"It just shows the depth of this age group and it is great for English football.”
As for next week's match with the 'Auld Enemy', Swain added: “It will be the usual!
"If it was a game of dominos or a game of cards, it will be a tough one. They will be a match for us and it will be a good contest, like tonight.”