England U21s chief hails 'outstanding' Kenilworth Road experience
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England U21s boss Ben Futcher labelled Kenilworth Road as ‘outstanding’ after he watched his Young Lions side thrash Austria U21s 4-1 last night.
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Hide AdIn front of a crowd of nearly 5,500, Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers scored twice, with Manchester City's James McAtee, brother of ex-Luton forward James, on target and West Bromwich Albion attacker Tom Fellows netting with virtually his first touch late on to seal a comprehensive victory at the home of the Hatters, which was hosting an international match for the first time since 1993.
During the build-up, the interim manager had spoken of his pride in leading the team out at a ground that his dad Paul and uncle Ron both played at during their careers, with the highly regarded twin brothers former Luton players of some repute in the mid-1970s. With Paul having sadly died from cancer in 2016, it was a poignant moment for the Futcher family, as asked about the evening afterwards, he said: “Outstanding. It’s a really good stadium under the lights. The pitch is excellent, nice and tight when it’s slicked up. I thought it suited us and a really good atmosphere. It’s a nice place to come and play for the players.”
Although dominating the opening 45 minutes, ahead through Rogers’ confidently-struck penalty awarded after McAtee was tripped in the area, the hosts were pegged back when Alex Scott coughed up possession allowing Thierno Ballo to fire in from range. After the break the Young Lions took control, in front once more through another terrific finish from Rogers following McAtee’s audacious flick, the talented City midfielder going on to score himself with a fine volley from Lewis Hall’s cross.
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Hide AdHall was the architect of the fourth and final goal too, sending over another dangerous delivery for Fellows to poke home and on what he said to his players during the interval to spark the improvement, Futcher, who had overseen a frustrating stalemate with Northern Ireland previously, continued: “We were a little bit disappointed at half time to come in one each.
"We had a number of chances, played well, created some real clear-cut chances and didn’t take them. Second half we were ruthless and it could have been more. The lads were excellent, a really good performance and some smiling faces in there which is good. It was more to do that we were playing some really good football, created some really good chances, but never took them.
"They deserved to be winning and they weren’t. We didn’t want to feel the same way after this game as we did the other night. As you’ve seen second half we really stepped on the gas, a bit more ruthless and we got a deserved four goals. I thought we moved the ball though the pitch well, we were patient when we needed to be, but when we got around that final bit, we created some really good chances.
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Hide Ad"We were running forward, passing forward, some top players were really expressing themselves and that’s what I asked them to do. The big difference tonight was we got that first goal and we looked a real threat then. Once you go ahead, teams have to open up and we’ve got players who are devastating and can be when they really concentrate and focus on that final bit like we did. They’re a really talented group.”
Although Rogers and McAtee were on the scoresheet, there were some excellent individual displays on the night, Hall getting better and better the longer the game progressed, while Aston Villa’s Samuel Iling-Junior and late on, Borussia Dortmund’s Jamie Gittens, thrilled the home crowd with some real moments of flair and direct running. Futcher added: “There’s some top talent in there. Morgs is one of them, great to see him on the scoresheet, he was excellent tonight. I thought other players were as well. We created a number of other chances, so a really positive night. A good team performance, we can go away really happy so it was good.”
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