Friendly Match: England 3-0 Loughborough University
Wednesday 02 February 2011By ESFA Office
Last Updated:
10/02/2021 11:48:52
England Schools v Loughborough University in action
On Sunday 30 January 2011 England Under 18 Schools’ squad hosted Loughborough University at Lilleshall National Sports Centre in preparation for the Centenary Shield campaign which kicks-off on 04 March against Northern Ireland.
The kick-off was delayed by half an hour due to the pitch still being hard in some places.
After kick-off the England boys settled quickly and looked very comfortable and effective in possession. The young lions had the better of early exchanges and it wasn't long before they began to create chances. On 15 minutes Jordan Ayris (Oxfordshire) had a close effort smartly saved by the Loughborough keeper. There were further long range efforts from Connor Thompson (Gloucestershire) and Jon Evans (Durham), both of which went wide.
Having started brightly and winning the early exchanges the deadlock was broken on 27 minutes when Jordan Ayris managed to poke home a close effort at the second attempt following good approach play involving Fabio Goncalves-Abreu (Gtr Manchester) and Josh Glover (Staffordshire).
England made it 2-0 on 35 minutes after a flowing move of about 10 passes from left to right saw Ayris steer in another Goncalves-Abreu cross. On 44 minutes, a quick passing combination saw Jon Evans convert a clever one-two with a superbly taken effort into the bottom right hand corner saw England got 3-0 before the interval.
With England Manager, Andy Williams, making seven changes at half time to give all the players a run-out and a further two enforced changes during the half it was always going to be a more difficult second half. England withstood the pressure and set pieces of Loughborough with Josh Hart (Merseyside) making two fine saves to keep a clean sheet.
After the match England boss Andy Williams reflected :
"This was a very encouraging start with many positives coming out of the game. Importantly, all the players have now played with each of them making a strong contribution. It goes without saying that I nowhave a greater understanding of individuals' ability and I look forward to coaching them during our five day trip to Malaga at the end of February."
England U18 Schools’ 2011 - Fixture List
England U18 Schools’ Squad 2011
More photos of this match can be viewed at www.rwt-photography.co.uk
