Tuesday 15 November 2011

Baz and Woz star as England see off Italy

England 2-0 Italy

Barry celebrates his strike

England coasted to victory over Italy at the Vodafone Stadium, with Kevin Warhurst and Adam Barry scoring the goals.

England coach Marco Garibaldi made seven changes to the side that beat Argentina 4-0, including Saturday's hero Chad Blake, and Real Birmingham striker Barry was one of the four survivors.

Kevin Warhurst's first England goal in a while was a traditional right-footed 20 yard rocket which left Andrea Rossi, the Italian keeper gazing.

Adam Barry made it two after a slick passing moves that finished with a through ball from Danny Defranco, and Barry slotted home on a break-away.

Italy had their moments, London Town striker Andrea Romano crashing the crossbar, but it was about the only time that Simon Herding was seriously tested in the England goal.

England: Simon Herding; Danny Miller, Mark Strickland, Daniel Perry, Liam Cole; Kevin Warhurst; Ryan Welch, Danny Defranco, Martin King; Adam Carter, Adam Barry.

Italy: Andrea Rossi; Emiliano Tournetti, Giuseppe Guilacci, Emanuele Novara, Paolo Lupatelli; Cristian Cozzin, Gianni Riccoli, Enrico Pagliani, Andrea Pagliani; Nicola-Andrea Di Salvatore, Andrea Romano.

Referee: Vladimir Vutkov (Russia).

Saturday 12 November 2011

Blake's heaven as England bargy Argies

England 4-0 Argentina

Blake celebrates his first goal

Teenage forward Chad Blake scored his first two goals for England, as the reigning European and World champions crushed Argentina 4-0 under the closed roof at Vodafone Stadium.

Bristol Pirates starlet Blake, 18, scored two crackers. The first from a James Douglas' cross which Blake belted from 25 yards, and the second a mazy solo run which confounded the Argentine defence.

Real Birmingham midfielder Douglas then made it three after the break from the spot after Blake was hauled down by Diego Carmano.

John Carey, the London Town striker, rounded off the scoring with ten minutes' left.

The youngster Blake's performance, will give Marco Garibaldi, who imposed an England exile before EuroCup 2012 for Edward Redwood following the Monsters attacker's sending-off in Wales, a lot to think about, although changes are expected to be made to the forward line when they face Garibaldi's native Italy on Tuesday.

Much talk before the game was the lethal threat of Argentinian playmaker Alberto Núñez, but the Barcelona Bullfighters star was disappointing throughout the whole 90 minutes, as the England defence, led by co-captain John Macdonald, played outstandingly well.

Argentina were disappointing throughout the contest, leading to their 2,000 fans who travelled all the way from South America to jeer them off at full time.

England: Simon Herding; Danny Miller, Mark Strickland, John Macdonald, Ashton Reid; Garry Stratford; James Douglas, Craig CraiCo; Chad Blake; John Carey, Adam Barry.

Argentina: Fabián Caballero; Diego Carmano, Facundo López, Daniel Hernán Ruiz, Francisco Boschmann; Julio Marconi, Hector Norquera, Nicolas Rodriguez; Ricardo Quesada, Alberto Núñez, Diego Darowski.

Referee: Mariusz Stankowski (Poland).

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Sneak peak of the EuroCup 12 shirt revealed!



This the new England shirt for next year's EuroCup 12. It will make its début in next week's friendlies against Argentina and Italy.

The shirt is white as ever with a navy collar and red insert and the popular white shorts make a return after a short-lived return to the traditional blue shorts this year. The socks will also be white.