Archived News from May 2002
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MOORE SKIPPERS ENGLAND WIN
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England rounded of their UniBond Four Nations Tournament with a win at Kettering Town on Saturday, but it was a less than impressive performance against win-less Scotland in front of a very decent Rockingham Road crowd.
As in the Scots' previous two matches, it was they who had the first opportunity of the game in the 6th minute when left back and skipper Stevie Dolan thundered a shot straight at Chester City goalkeeper Wayne Brown.  Five minutes later the impressive Michael Stephen of Fraserburgh struck a long-range free-kick that went narrowly over the bar as England struggled with the three at the back system in which wing backs Simon Wormull and Mark Angel, used to much different roles with their clubs, were continually caught out of position.
England's first chance of the game came after 14 minutes when a great long ball from Jason Goodliffe found Adam Stansfield, but the Yeovil Town youngster's shot was weak and easily saved by Michael Rae in the Scottish goal. On 29 minutes England should have taken the lead after a good run and cross by Stansfield, but Stewart Drummond's hot was deflectec over the bar. Stansfield was injured after that run and had to be replaced by Junior McDougald 4 minutes later and the Dagenham & Redbridge striker's pace immediately caused the Scots problems. However, right on thr stoke of half-time both sides had opportunities to take the lead. Defender Scott Anderson headed just over following a corner for Scotland and then a minute later Kirk Jackson did exactly the same at the other end. The breakthrough came 5 minutes after the restart and it went to England when a cross from Wormull, who was much happier further up the field, was slid home by Drummond (pictured) at the far post. Five minutes later Brown came to England's rescue when he saved Stephen's shot from the edge of the box and then recovered to smother Richie Hart's effort from the rebound. England substitute Aaron Webster then had a great chance to double the lead after 65 minutes but he pulled his shot wide when well placed. The usual plethora of substitutions from both sides disrupted what little cohesion there was, although Jackson had a chance cleared by Anderson before England did manage to net their second goal 5 minutes from time when a header by McDougald was brilliantly saved by Rae but the ball fell kindly to Weatherstone, who neatly netted the rebound. The only thing remaining was the bizarre decision to vote England goalkeeper Wayne Brown as man of the match! Brown did nothing wrong and did make a couple of decent saves, and although there were few on the field that deserved the award, it still came as rather a surprise when his name was announced, and it would perhaps have been nice to have seen Scotland, who were almost out of their depth in the tournament as a whole, given something for the efforts with Michael Stephen on the left of midfield an obvious candidate. Wales' impressive 5-2 in at Boston United against the much-fancied Republic of Ireland (report later) gave them the UniBond Four Nations Tournament championship. Teams: England: Wayne Brown; Simon Wormull, Tim Ryan, Neil Moore, Jason Goodliffe, Nick Roddis, Steve Watson (sub: Mark Gower 72m), Stewart Drummond (sub: Simon Weatherstone 80m), Kirk Jackson (sub: James Taylor 85m), Adam Stansfield (sub: Junior McDougald 33m), Mark Angel (sub: Aaron Webster 60m). Scotland: Michael Rae; Derek Milne (sub: Ross Archibald 76m), Stevie Dolan, Scott Anderson, Raleigh Gowrie, Philip Johnston (sub: Paul McGinley 75m), Ian Murray (sub: Richie Davidson 85m), Richie Hart, Philip O'Neill (sub: Jamie Watt 72m), Scott Hunter (Sub: Willie Bennett 82m), Michael Stephen. Source: thenon-leaguepaper.com |
Latest | May 2002