England bounce back in style

England got their bid to reach this summer's UEFA European Under-19 Championship back on course thanks to a 3-0 victory against Denmark, with all the goals coming in the first 38 minutes.

Hopes revived
The result gave Richard Bate's team their first win in Group 4 and revived their qualification hopes after a 2-1 defeat by mini-tournament hosts Slovenia in their first match on Wednesday. Danish aspirations of reaching the finals tournament in Switzerland, already slender after a 1-0 loss to Ukraine on Wednesday, were ended by the defeat.

Quick start
Southampton FC's Dexter Blackstock opened the scoring for England in the third minute, heading in to give Bate's team a crucial early advantage. Denmark struggled to bounce back from that early setback, and fell further behind in the 27th minute as Norwich City FC's Ryan Jarvis raced on to a defence-splitting through-ball and finished calmly.

Henderson strikes
The match was effectively ended as a contest seven minutes before the interval as the impressive Ian Henderson scored the goal his all-round display had warranted, producing another composed finish to round off a sweeping England move.

Stout defending
Denmark strove valiantly for a way back into the match in the second period, and England goalkeeper Ross Turnbull was forced to make an impressive stop, but the defence stood firm and Bate's team held on comfortably.

'First-class response'
"We started well with a high tempo, and the boys knew what they had to do," England's head coach told the Football Association's website. "They showed the appropriate attitude that the coaches asked of all the players, and their response was first class."