ESFA Internationals, featured

England Schoolboys U18 3 FC Utrecht U17 1- Eindhoven Tour 2020

The England Schoolboys made it two wins from their two matches in the Netherlands with a terrific performance and a well deserved win over FC Utrecht.

The game was played at frantic pace with Utrecht certainly offering a more physical challenge than their opening game 24 hours earlier but the back four marshalled by Thomas Duffy and Joe Lockey  were resolute in an opening half of end to end football.

Brad Santos and Taylor Richardson were giving the Utrecht defence plenty of concerns with their pace and it was the latter who gave England a deserved lead, a neat side foot finish to a cross from the right midway through the half.

The lead was short lived though, the home side drawing level moments later but that did not interrupt the performance level from the visitors and their pressure told shortly before half time when Hans Mpongo bagged his second goal in as many games to have England 2-1 ahead at the interval.

After the break there was no drop off in performance and the home side were grateful to their keeper who made a number of good saves to keep the result in doubt but he could do nothing about Ben Reay’s late shot from outside the box that completed the scoring.

All in all a great performance to round off the trip and set the lads up for their next fixture in early March against UCFB in Manchester.

Photo Credit- 353 Photography

ESFA Internationals, featured

England U15 Schoolgirls victorious in first game of Eindhoven Training Camp

England’s Schoolgirls got their training camp off to a winning start with a 2-0 win over UVVA in Utrecht on Sunday afternoon.

After a weather affected journey to the Netherlands it was a bright and early start for the trip North but there was no sign of tiredness as the girls began the game on the front foot.

Tori Almond and Kate Oakley had already seen goals chalked off for offside before Almond finally took advantage of a through ball to skip round the keeper and roll the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.

With the strong wind causing a few problems it was England who could have extended their lead before the break but  Isabelle Wade just failed to connect with her header when a cross held up in the wind 8 yards out.

The second half saw a number of changes to the team but with a swirling wind in their face the chances for free flowing football were few and far between and the home side could have drawn level with a wind assisted shot that clipped the outside of the post.

It was left for two of the substitutes, Lucy Cooper and Megan Sofield, to settle the result late on when the former forced the Dutch defence into a mistake which allowed her to cross for Sofield to side foot home from 6 yards out.

All in all a satisfactory afternoon’s work for the girls who ended the afternoon with a tour of the KNVB Campus, home of the Dutch National football teams, before returning to their hotel to relax before their next game on Tuesday evening.

Photo Credit: 353 Photography Â