Pleased in patches
Friday, 26 October, 2012
U17s Head Coach John Peacock was happy with certain parts of Friday's performance
U17s Head Coach John Peacock saw his side finish their Euro qualifiers with a 100 per cent record on Friday, but admits they made it much harder than it needed to be.
The Young Lions came back from a goal down to take a 3-1 lead, but Northern Ireland fought back and could have levelled the scorelines in stoppage time.
And whilst England held on for victory, Peacock knows his players will need to improve when they contest the Elite Qualifying Round next March.
He said: “We made life difficult for ourselves, but we played very well in the first period and passed the ball very well.
“But we conceded a goal and that put us on the back foot a little bit and then we deservedly went in at 1-1 at half time.”
It was the performance after England’s third goal that most concerned Peacock though, as Northern Ireland pulled another goal back and came within inches of equalising when Jamie McDonagh’s injury time free-kick hit the woodwork.
“We went 3-1 up, but we’ve had problems seeing the game out when we were in control and should really have put the game to bed,” added Peacock.
“So you have to give credit to Northern Ireland, who were very committed and showed great passion.
“In the end, we had to dig deep to try and get the victory that we wanted, but we did and we’ll take that into the Elite Round and hopefully learn from it.”