English Schools' Football Association

England Celebrate

England kept their Carnegie Centenary Shield hopes alive last night after they earned a 2-0 win at St Mirren Football Club last night.

Scotland started brightly but failed to create any clear cut chances during the opening exchanges. As the first half wore on England became more dominant and began to take control of the match with some slick passing movements.

The first meaningful effort of the match came on 21 minutes when England’s David Knight hit the post with a fine header following a neat move from the left. England were looking dangerous at this point, but it was Scotland who nearly grabbed the lead on 27 minutes when the England keeper, Steve Norris, misjudged a long ball into the penalty area which was subsequently hacked off the line by England centre half James Libby.

England broke the deadlock on 43 minutes when England’s target man, Taylor Morgan, broke free from the Scotland back four to calmly slot home under the advancing Scotland keeper, Laidlaw. Taylor Morgan had previously opened the scoring against Scotland at Wembley Stadium last season as well - a match that England also went onto win 2-0.

After the interval it was England which started brightly and they were rewarded for their positive approach play with a second goal on 54 minutes when the busy David Knight floated a lovely ball into the penalty area and the unmarked Robert Carter headed home convincingly as the Scottish keeper could only look on.

The game began to lose a bit of shape in the final twenty minutes as both team mangers were eager to give as many boys a run out in front of the Sky Sports cameras as possible.

The win was imperative for England’s intentions of lifting the Carnegie Centenary Shield this season. The result now leaves them level on points with Northern Ireland and one point behind the Republic of Ireland, with each team having to play one more game. For England to win the Shield outright, they must win at Waterford FC against the Republic of Ireland next Friday (24 April) and hope that Wales can beat or hold Northern Ireland at Colwyn Bay FC on Monday (20 April)

To view the results, fixtures and table go to www.esfa.co.uk/international

Team line-ups

Scotland: Laidlaw, Munn, Robertson, Black, Leighfield, Burstow, MacAdam, Scoular, Stevenson, Fitzpatrick, Hogg. Subs: Lennon (for Burstow, 80 mins), Macdonald (for Scoular, 57 mins), Keast (for Hogg, 77 mins). Not used: Winslow (GK), Feber and Gould.

England: Norris, Tasker, Libby, Baptista, Morgan, Watson, Wheeler, Whitehead, Norwood, Knight, Carter. Subs: Clayton (for Whitehead, 81 mins), Johnson (for Baptista, 45 mins), Hancock (for Morgan, 65 mins), Scott (for Wheeler, 78 mins), Ellis (for Norwood, 45 mins). Sub not used: Pass (GK)