England U19s enjoyed the perfect start to 2013 with a victory over Denmark last night at Keepmoat Stadium.
The evening’s proceedings were kicked off with a parade around the pitch, by players from Pollington Panthers Junior Football Club.
As the teams walked out onto the Keepmoat Stadium turf, players from Wickersley Youth Junior Football Club were on hand bearing flags to welcome the players onto the pitch.
On the pitch Noel Blake’s side put in an impressive performance against their Danish counterparts much to the delight of the supporters, who turned up in numbers to cheer on the Young Lions.
Over 7,500 supporters braved the cold weather and were duly rewarded in the eighteenth minute. Denmark tried to overplay in their own area and goalkeeper Oliver Korch’s sloppy pass was cut out by Nathan Redmond. Redmond moved it quickly on to Chuba Akpom, who made no mistake by striking low past the stranded Korch.
Akpom added his second of the game less than ten minutes later when England launched a stunning counter-attack on the Danes.
Again it was Redmond at the heart of the move, slipping a fine pass into the area for Akpom, who beat Korch to the ball and rolled home in the 27th minute.
The Young Lions went in at the half time break in complete control of the game.
Half time saw a variety of activities taking place, the Npower Football League Kids Cup being one of those.
Ahead of the game 20 teams competed for a chance to play on the Keepmoat Stadium pitch, and the two lucky teams to get this opportunity were Barnby Dun and Copley Junior.
Barnby Dun were the victors in the half time contest and will now go on to represent Doncaster Rovers in the Regional Final of the Npower Football League Kids Cup. The overall final of the competition will be at Wembley Stadium ahead of the League One Play-Off Final.
Other activities during the interval included Wickersley Youth taking part in a penalty shoot out and Treeton Terriers parading around the pitch with their England flags.
The teams returned for the second half of the game; however it was Denmark that started the brightest and were rewarded with a goal.
A deep cross from sub Mads Aaquist was caught at first by Jordan Pickford, however the England ‘keeper lost the ball as he landed. The ball dropped to Danny Amankwaa who converted from close range.
Noel Blake freshened his side up after conceding and subs Josh Murphy and Dominic Samuel combined to restore their two goal advantage.
The referee blew the final whistle to bring an end to a fantastic game for supporters and players alike.
England U19s: 1 Jordan Pickford (13 Dean Snedker, 85), 2 John Stones (12 Calum Chambers, 67), 3 Greg Leigh, 4 James Ward Prowse, 5 Eric Dier (15 Jordan Willis, 79), 6 Jack O'Connell, 7 Tyler Blackett (17 Lewis Baker, 67), 8 John Lundstram (c), 9 Chuba Akpom (14 Dominic Samuel, 57), 10 Blair Turgott (18 Josh Murphy, 58), 11 Nathan Redmond (16 Jacob Muphy, 57).
Denmark U19s: 1 Olver Korch (16 Casper Radza), 2 Frederik Holst, 3 Patrick Jensen, 4 Nicolai Johannessen (, 18 Andreas Maxso, 81), 6 Patrick Olsen (5 Emiliano Marcondes, 72), 8 Lasse Christensen (c), 9 Yusuf Yurary, 10 Lucas Andersen, 11 Danny Amankwaa (13 Marcus Solberg, 67), 15 Kristian Lindberg (7 Christian Norgaard, 58), 17 Casper Hojer Nielsen (12 Mads Aaquist), (14 Lucas Tomas Jensen, 79).
Attendance: 7654