UEFA Regions Cup Intermediate Round
Romania (Prahova Muntenia) 1 England (West Yorkshire League) 2
Goals: Romania (Micu 6) England (Greaves 13, Frankland 43)
ENGLAND’S quest to qualify for the Regions Cup got off to the best possible start with this hard earned win against Romania on Tuesday.
Represented by the West Yorkshire League, England showed plenty of Yorkshire grit to recover from the early blow of conceding a soft penalty and run out deserved 2-1 winners.
John Flynn’s team have been on an 18 month journey to reach this stage of the competition having won the FA Inter League Cup (for National League System Step 7 Leagues) to qualify to represent England, and the additional preparation and training they have done since qualification served them well in Tuesday’s game.
They started with a high tempo and cast iron discipline which they maintained despite Romania taking the lead after just six minutes and were rewarded with an equaliser when Tom Greaves rose unchallenged to nod home a corner.
From that moment the half belonged to the White Rose lads as they played intelligent and mature football in atrocious weather conditions.
They carved out two more glorious opportunities for Day and Jackson, before the latter’s sublime trick induced a clumsy foul in the penalty area. Barry Frankland stepped up to drive home the resulting spot kick and send England in 2-1 up at the break.
The second half was a scrappier affair with few chances and a spate of bookings for both teams. Inevitably the England goal came under greater pressure in the final 15 minutes, but the Romanians failed to create a single clear cut opportunity as the England defence stood firm.
This excellent result puts England in great heart for their next test against Serbia on Thursday 11am.
England Team: Kerr, Maynard, Dutson, Greaves, Fennell (O’Neil 85), Day, Crawford, Payne, Jackson (Cunningham 79), Moon, Frankland (Jeavons 62). Unused Subs: Gardiner, Graham, Nolan, Dixon.
