England U20s kick-off with 5-0 win at St. George's Park

Saturday 05 Sep 2015
Demarai Gray is congratulated on his goal against Czech Republic
England Under-20s got their season off to a winning start on Saturday afternoon, hitting five past Czech Republic in their first of two games this week.

The nations will meet again in Shrewsbury on Monday evening, but played a first match behind closed doors at St. George’s Park after initially meeting up last weekend for the first time this term.

England 5-0 Czech Republic

U20 International Match
3pm, Saturday 5 September 2015
St. George's Park, Burton

And new head coach Keith Downing will be hoping for a similar outcome at Greenhous Meadow in two days, after seeing his team dominate this first encounter.

Nottingham Forest striker Tyler Walker, son of former England defender Des, was a late call-up to the squad and enjoyed a memorable debut, by smashing home the first after 23 minutes following Brandon Barker’s far-post corner.

He quickly added another two minutes later, racing clear of the defence to slot a low shot past Czech keeper Martin Otahal after good link-up between Barker and Reece Brown in midfield.

The England Under-20s line-up to face Czech Republic at St. George

The starting line-up to face Czech Republic at St. George's Park on Saturday

It could have been three soon after when Barker saw a lob over Otahal bounce back off the cross bar as England continued to threaten.

Captain Ben Chilwell then added the third goal just before the break, when his deep cross from the left flew over Otahal and into the far corner to prompt somewhat embarrassed celebrations from the Leicester City defender.

After the break, substitute Demarai Gray made a run from deep to skip past the Czech keeper to make it 4-0, before his Birmingham City team-mate Brown added England’s fifth in the 68th minute with a neat finish in the area.

Downing also had chance to see all of his outfield players in action, with second-half appearances for the rest of the squad as plans for Monday's match are formulated.

Tickets for Monday's game at Shrewsbury cost just £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions and can be bought from Shrewsbury Town by clicking here or by calling 01743 273943.

England Under-20s (4-3-3): 1 Russell Griffiths (Everton); 2 Mason Holgate (Everton), 6 Ola Aina (Chelsea), 5 Cole Kpekawa (QPR), 3 Ben Chilwell (Leicester City); 4 Aaron Kuhl (Reading), 8 Cameron Brannagan (Liverpool), 10 Reece Brown (Birmingham City); 7 Alex Gilliead (Newcastle United); 9 Tyler Walker (Nottingham Forest); 11 Brandon Barker (Manchester City).

Substitutes: 15 Jermaine Anderson (Peterborough United) for Aina 46, 12 Ashley Smith-Brown (Manchester City) for Chilwell 46, 14 Demarai Gray (Birmingham City) for Barker 46, 18 Ryan Kent (Liverpool) for Gilliead 60, 19 Che Adams (Sheffield United) for Walker 73, 16 Harry Winks (Tottenham Hotspur) for Brannagan 73, 17 Bryn Morris (Coventry City, loan from Middlesbrough) for Brown 73.

Substitute not used: 13 Ted Smith (Southend United)

Goals: Tyler Walker 23, 25, Ben Chilwell 42, Demarai Gray 50, Reece Brown 60.

Czech Republic: 16 Martin Otahal, 3 Marek Sisa, 5 Martin Toml (c), 6 Ladislav Takacs, 7 Lukas Buchvaldek, 9 Michal Rezac, 10 Jakub Yunis, 11 Erik Puchel, 12 Jan Matej, 14 Jakub Jankto, 18 Lukas Sadilek.

Substitutes: 8 Jiri Kulhanek for Jankto, 19 Jan Suchan for Puchel 60, 17 Matej Helesic for Buchvaldec 65, 13 Tomas Hykel for Sisa 65, 20 David Surmaj for Yunis 73.

Subs not used: 1 Vit Nemrava, 15 David Panek

By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels at St. George's Park