Tuesday 6 September 2011

England qualify for EuroCup 12

England 2-0 Austria


Stratford shook off an ankle injury to score against Austria

Goals from Garry Stratford and Adam Carter proved to be the decisive factor as England booked their place in next year's EuroCup after they beat Austria 2-0 on Tuesday night.

England: Simon Herding; Danny Miller, John Macdonald, Daniel Perry, Ashton Reid; Garry Stratford; James Douglas, Craig CraiCo; Edward Redwood, John Carey, Adam Carter.

Austria: Juergen Pfeiffer; Andreas Andrzejczyk, Ferdinand Hoegl, Otto Griechel, Michael Mayer; Wolfgang Babatz; Klaus Hauger, Peter Pfertzl, Walter Freund; Benni Bauer, Mark Pingel.

Referee: Constantin Doianu (Romania).

Saturday 3 September 2011

Daniel Perry happy that England are almost qualified


Perry celebrates England's victory

England competitive captain Daniel Perry is happy his national side have nearly secured their place in next year's EuroCup 12 finals, after a comfortable 3-1 win in Bosnia-Hercegovina on Friday, after Austria and Wales could only draw 0-0.

England have won all their qualifiers so far, sitting on top of Group A with 28 points, and will secure qualification if they beat Austria on Tuesday, and Perry, 30, believes the defending European and World champions will be difficult to stop.

"Great stuff," said London Town defender Perry. "There's no stopping us. Everyone will find it tough.

"All the lads done well, especially CraiCo, and the manager's got the best out of us and it's just brilliant when you win with ease.

"Now we can look forward to the match against Austria at the Vodafone on Tuesday without any problems."

However, England do have one problem. Perry's team-mate, midfielder Garry Stratford limped off after 23 minutes with a sprained ankle, but England coach Marco Garibaldi said: "It is only a niggle.

"I'll give him a couple of days off, but he will be fit for the game against Austria."

On man-of-the-match Craig CraiCo, Perry said: "CraiCo's such a massive player for us. He's gotten better since he left London United for Spain (at Madrid Magic) and he's the absolute backbone of the England team.

"You saw him set up the goal for Macca (John Macdonald), as well as score the goal in the opening minute. He, for me, is still the greatest footballer in the world."

Striker Edward Redwood was happy to break his England duck - he hadn't scored since the Home Nations Championship against Wales in June, his longest wait without an England goal.

"I'm happy to be back in this sort of form after a torrid past few months," stated the Monsters striker, 25. "It's important we keep this going; we could be unstoppable in Russia next year. "

Friday 2 September 2011

England win in Bosnia

Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-3 England


Influential midfielder CraiCo was named man-of-the-match

England won with ease against Bosnia and Herzegovina with a 3-1 victory on Friday night in Sarajevo.

Craig CraiCo opened the scoring with after only two minutes, playing a one-two with John Carey and then firing into the back of the net just inside the area.

John Macdonald made it 2-0 with a header from an inswinging CraiCo corner.

Edward Redwood made it 3-0 with a header of his own, from a cross from Danny Defranco, before Bosnia replied straight after the restart, fast breaking and unravelling the England defence before Zlatan Fahidović scored.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Edin Bajramović; Andrej Tosić (Elvir Manić 82'), Marko Mrhadović (Rehadžić 82'), Muhamed Vlahović, Sergei Nikolić; Tamir Salidović (Asmir Hasanović 59'), Samir Muslimović, Bosko Stanković, Hasan Hasanović; Zlatan Fahidović, Ahmet Bosniak

Subs not used: Asmir Ibrahimović, Robert Konjić

England:
Simon Herding; Gary Mitchell, John Macdonald, Daniel Perry, Liam Cole; Garry Stratford (Danny Defranco 23'), James Douglas, Craig CraiCo, Kevin Warhurst; Edward Redwood; John Carey

Subs not used: Chris Kolinski, Adam Carter, Steven Tweed, Martin King

Referee: Guus Honkensteen (Netherlands).