FRASER FRANKS and James Norwood may have got the goals, but Paul Fairclough reckons his late father Eric lays claim to an assist on an emotional night for the England C manager.
The Czech Republic’s Under-21 side had led Tuesday’s friendly at Woking for 79 minutes, with first-half goals from Michael Krmencik, in the sixth minute, and Lukas Stratil on the stroke of half-time demonstrating the devastating pace on the break that is the trademark of elite international teams.
But after Adam Janos’ straight red card for a studs up lunge on Angus MacDonald early in the second half, the visitors – captained by Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas – were hanging on with growing desperation by the time Welling centre-half Franks headed home on 85 minutes.
By the time substitute Dan Fitchett became the latest in a long line to have his legs swiped from under him deep into stoppage time, on this occasion in the penalty area, the Czechs had resorted to dribbling the ball into the corner at set-pieces. In a friendly!
Forest Green’s Norwood punished them with a perfectly placed spot-kick, virtually the last touch of the game, to earn England a deserved draw.
A proud Fairclough cast his mind back to 2007 and told The NLP: “Tuesday was the sixth anniversary of my father’s death. We’d played an International Challenge Trophy game in Finland and beaten their Under-21 team with goals from Steve Morison and Matt Tubbs – two lads who have gone on to have wonderful League careers – and I was rushed back afterwards because my father was ill.
“I think he was looking after me and this current generation in that 93rd minute.”
Despite losing several players to FA Cup duty, injury and, in FC Halifax midfielder Dan Gardner’s case, illness, Fairclough picked a side to take the game to the Czech Republic.
It will be a year next Saturday since the top scorer of Fairclough’s ten-year reign, Mitchell Cole, tragically passed away. In Elliott Frear, the manager picked a left-winger who did justice to the ex-Grays and Stevenage flyer’s legacy as a Non-League legend for his clubs and country.
With the Salisbury player and Barnet‘s Keanu Marsh-Brown flanking Norwood and Andre Gray, England’s adventurous formation was almost 4-2-4, with Matty Pearson and star man James Armson anchoring midfield.
Such an approach left the defence exposed at times, but Armson’s Nuneaton team-mate James Belshaw didn’t have a save to make, other than the goals, and Woking midfielder Josh Payne came on to use his passing ability to take advantage of the extra man soon after the Janos dismissal.
Straightaway Payne went close with a header at the end of a move he’d started, then Armson and Norwood both stretched Czech keeper Jiri Pavlenka before Franks stooped to head in Armson’s cross and Norwood hammered home his penalty.
“James Armson was terrific, Fraser Franks was outstanding, Elliott Frear looked a real threat, James Norwood’s work-rate and threat was fantastic, and the boy who came on from Woking – Josh Payne – did exceptionally well,” was Fairclough’s run-down.
“Payney was the right kind of player to bring on at that time because we had that extra man in the middle, and we needed someone with that bit of guile about him.
“Playing against ten men is one thing, exploiting it is another. I thought the lads played very intelligently. We didn’t get reduced to smashing long balls at them. We tried to keep the ball and kept the pitch very wide.
“I’m very proud of the way they went about their work. There was no panic. They kept to the plan and believed in what we were trying to do, and we got our just rewards. It felt like a win in the end.”
