England's opening game of the 2014 Algarve International Tournament - an annual competition used as preparation for the U17s spring qualifiers - began slowly and it was a cagey opening in the sunshine of Lagos - as both sides edged their way into the game.
Perhaps the teams were labouring as they savoured the sunlight as it would not be until the 15-minute mark until a chance came.
Holland's Keziah Veendorp was caught in possession on the edge of the area by Joshua Onomah but the attacker fired over when through on goal.
England 2-0 Netherlands
U17s international
Algarve International Tournament
Wednesday 26 February 2014
Municipal Stadium, Lagos
The spark would eventually come through debutant Josh Sims, although the afternoon started strangely for the Southampton youngster as he was booked for what appeared to be nothing more sinister than his boot coming off on 21 minutes.
Sims looked dangerous down the left as he darted forward on several occasions, but a combination of a missing final ball and stellar defending kept the scoreline intact during a frustrating first-half for both teams - with chances few and far between.
England did suffer a blow seconds before the break as Archie Edwards went down after a slight knock on his knee and he was replaced by Max Lowe on 39 minutes.
No changes were made at the interval as John Peacock's youngsters got the action under way, and they started with a bang as Sims produced a moment of magic he will remember for many a year.
He raced through onto a pass as the defence struggled to catch him, and cut back before finishing right-footed to grab a debut goal on 43 minutes.
A number of changes were made as the momentum England had built slowed, and the Netherlands looked to punish them as they started to press.
They showed great energy as they began to hunt in packs, pushing and pressing England back as they struggled to get out of their half.
Substitute Anthony Berenstein caused all sorts of problems, and he created a great chance for teammate Abdelhak Nouri to pull the trigger, but he sent his effort high and wide.
Steven Bergwign then missed another opportunity to equalise when he fired over with the goal gaping, and it was to prove a costly miss.
With 74 minutes on the clock Sims showed great awareness as he latched on to a weak back pass to dart forward and square for Joshua Onomah to make it 2-0 to England - who saw out the final minutes in relative comfort.
England (4-1-4-1)
1 Freddie Woodman, 2 Mandela Egbo, 12 Archie Edwards (3 Max Lowe, 39), 5 Joseph Gomez (C), 15 Dael Fry, 4 Lewis Cook, 7 Patrick Roberts (11 Oluwaseyi Ojo 56), 8 Joshue Onomah (19 Karl Grant, 76), 17 Josh Sims, 18 Kieran Dowell (16 Taylor Moore, 49), 9 Demetri Mitchell (10 Giorgio Rasulo, 56).
Subs not used:
6 Tom Brewitt
13 Sam Howes
14 Callum Connolly
20 Callum Cooke
Netherlands: (4-3-2-1) 1 Yanick Van Osch, 2 Teun Van Zweeden, 3 Keziah Veedorp (C), 4 Calvin Verdonk, 5 Wellington Verloo, 6 Laros Duarte (22 Anthony Berenstein, 46), 7 Kenneth Paal (17 Steven Bergwign, 65), 8 Donny van de Beek, 9 Segun Owobowale (19 Jan-Willem Tesselaar, 65), 10 Abdelhak Nouri, 11 Marlon Slabbekoorn.
Subs not used:
13 Rick van der Meer
14 Justin Bakker
15 Bradley de Nooijer
16 Stan van Bladeren
18 Jari Schuurman
20 Jeremy Helmer
21 Joris Klein Holte
