England made it three wins out of three when they beat Scotland 3-0 on Saturday.
Scotland 0-3 England
UEFA 2006 Women’s U19 European Championship
Qualifying Round One
Pirelli Stadium, Burton Albion
1 October 2005
Two early goals by Dani Bird set England up for a comfortable victory that ended a hugely satisfying Euro tournament for Mo Marley’s youngsters.
With a 100 per cent record from their three games, 17 goals scored and none conceded, it was mission accomplished with some aplomb.
To make their week in the Midlands even more memorable, England twice set new attendance records for women’s U19 matches in this country.
The highest ever crowd of 1,250 at Burton’s Pirelli Stadium on Saturday meant that almost 3,000 fans watched the three England games at the four-nation tournament.
“The girls loved playing in front of big and enthusiastic crowds,” said U19 Coach Marley, “and it was great to see such an interest from people in the Midlands.”
The fans were on their feet twice in the opening three minutes as Bristol Academy winger Bird hit a quick-fire double to give England a great start against the Scots.
Marley’s team never lost their grip even though it took until the 69th minute for Arsenal striker Sanderson to wrap up victory with the third goal.
“I don’t think the result was ever in doubt after our first two goals came so early,” said the England coach.
“It was one-way traffic for most of the game and our goalkeeper, Nicola Hobbs, didn’t have a great deal to do.”
The result meant that England qualified for the second qualifying round as clear winners of the group, with Scotland also going through as runners-up.
The Faroe Islands finished third thanks to a 2-0 victory over wooden spoonists Croatia at Tamworth on Saturday.
Marley was understandably pleased with her team’s performances throughout the tournament but refused to single out individuals for special praise.
“It was a team effort from first to last,” she said. “That’s what we’d worked on from the time we came together and without question, the team was the star.
“Now we’re one qualifying round from the finals, and although it will be harder in the next phase we’ll be aiming to build on what we’ve achieved in this last week.”
Goals: Bird 2, 3, Sanderson 69