Hatters teen comes off the bench as England U20s defeat Czechia U20s

Luton midfielder Zack Nelson came off the bench as England’s Elite League squad rounded off their international matches with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Czechia in the EURO Elite League contest at Doncaster Rovers yesterday evening.

Having played 90 minutes during the Young Lions' 2-1 victory over Italy on Thursday, Nelson was moved to the bench by boss Paul Nevin for the match, as in front of a crowd of 2,670 fans, the hosts made a fast start, K.A.A Gent forward Max Dean hitting the bar inside the opening minute. England then won a penalty when Norwich City’s Ben Chrisene was fouled inside the area, only for Dean to miss from the spot.

He did finally open the scoring on the stroke of half time, curling into the net, before adding to his tally with 13 minutes gone of the second half, netting an excellent first-time effort after being picked out on the edge of the box. Norwich attacker Kaide Gordon made it 3-0 when finding the bottom corner, as Nelson then replaced Plymouth Argyle’s Darko Gyabi for the final 25 minutes, fellow sub Will Lankshear going close to a fourth in the latter stages.

England: Tommy Simkin (Max Merrick 79), Joshua Acheampong (Kellen Fisher 65), Benjamin Chrisene (Elijah Campbell 74), Darko Gyabi (Zack Nelson 65), Max Alleyne (Brad Hills 79), Ashley Phillips (Kaelan Casey 74), Kaide Gordon, Sammy Braybrooke (Dundee), Max Dean, Tobias Collyer (Romain Esse 74, Dominic Ballard (Will Lankshear 65). Subs not used: Ben Cisse.