Grant Gains First England Cap

Last updated : 23 May 2007 By Stray Shots Team
The England National Game XI got their Four Nations Tournament campaign off to a flying start with a resounding 5-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in Inverness.

England, with seven debutants in the side, began brightly and had a strong penalty appeal turned down on seven minutes when Mitchell Cole, the Stevenage midfielder playing in his first NGXI, appeared to be clearly tripped as he broke into the area. However, despite strong appeals, Welsh referee Huw Jones allowed play to continue.

But England soon took the lead, with 18 minutes gone, when Cole headed home at the far post from a pin-point Southam cross. The Three Lions were dominant as the half progressed with the Irish struggling to cope with their strength and movement; Seddon and Tubbs in particular were both enjoying impressive debuts.

They should have increased their lead on the half hour when Seddon was brought down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Seddon took the kick but Coleman in the Irish goal made a good save. They then had a goal disallowed on 41 minutes when Tubbs shot from the edge of the box but Seddon was clearly offside as he knocked the ball into an empty net.

England continued where they left off after the break and it was no surprise when Glen Southam, seeing Coleman off his line, volleyed home from 40 yards to make it 2-0.

It was 3-0 on 72 minutes when Salisbury's Matthew Tubbs flung himself forward to head home from a Cole cross.

With the game effectively over, manager Paul Fairclough took the opportunity to use his bench and rest players for the Scotland match on Friday.

The replacements continued with the same momentum and on 79 minutes Cole scored his second goal breaking through the Irish defence to slot the ball past the advancing Coleman.

He was not finished there and with five minutes left he finished off an excellent passing movement to head in England's fifth and seal his hat-trick.

Cole's treble goes down as the first by an England player at this level and afterwards Fairclough was full of praise for the side

"We dominated the game from the start and never allowed the Irish to settle at all. This is the most physically strong squad that we have put together and this clearly showed. We excelled in all departments and made a strong start to the Tournament."

A jubilant John Grant said afterwards, "It was a great honour for me to earn my first cap for the England squad and it was great to win the match too."

In the other match played on Tuesday, Wales beat Scotland 1-0 with a late penalty. England now meet the hosts on Friday night at Ross County FC, kick off 8.00pm.

Lance Cronin (Ebbsfleet United), Danny Foster (Dagenham & Redbridge), Kevin Nicholson (Forest Green Rovers), Adam Quinn (Halifax Town), Neal Bishop (York City), Kieran Charnock (Northwich Victoria), Glenn Southam (Dagenham & Redbridge), Paul Carden (c) (Burton Albion), Gareth Seddon (Hyde United), Matthew Tubbs (Salisbury City), Mitchell Cole (Stevenage Borough)
Subs: Adam Yates (Morecambe), Scott Tynan (Rushden & Diamonds), John Ashton (Rushden & Diamonds), Mark Molesley (Stevenage Borough), Lewis Chalmers (Altrincham), John Grant (Aldershot Town), Andrew Burgess (Oxford United)

England will face Scotland at Ross County FC on Friday 25 May before returning to Clachnacuddin on Sunday 27 May to face Wales.