Gareth Southgate’s squad met up on Tuesday after the final 23-man squad for this summer’s Euro Finals was named and they’ve since been in training for the competition.
England 3-1 Republic of Ireland
(England win 5-4 on penalties)
U21 Practice Game
3pm, Friday 5 June 2015
St. George's Park, Burton
But they were given a taste of competitive football when first-half goals from Tom Carroll, Saido Berahino and Nat Chalobah proved enough to secure victory in front of the watching England senior boss Roy Hodgson and the majority of his squad.
The Three Lions also won a penalty shoot-out practice by 5-4 following the final whistle, as the team took another step towards their trip to Czech Republic later this month.
It didn’t take long for England to open their account, when Carroll collected a short corner from Alex Pritchard before spotting a gap and curling a fine shot into the net past Daniel Rogers in the fifth minute.
Rogers was forced into a good save shortly after too, when Luke Garbutt’s corner from the right was met by the head of Chalobah, but the Aberdeen stopper showed great instinct to palm the ball away to safety.
The pitch at St. George's Park where England played Ireland
England got their second goal in the 24th minute, as John Stones advanced from right-back before cutting back and floating a left-footed cross to the far post where Berahino headed firmly past Rogers.
With half time approaching, Southgate’s men made it 3-0 when Garbutt crossed from the left for Chalobah to emphatically head home.
The visitors didn’t have many chances in the first period, but they came close just before the break when Spurs winger Kenny McEvoy crossed for Callum O’Dowda whose header went just over the bar.
Alex Pritchard sees his second-half chance saved
There were a couple of changes for both teams at the break and one of those subs, Danny Ings, forced Rogers into a brave block shortly after the re-start when he latched onto Pritchard’s through ball in the area.
Pritchard then showed his touch by superbly controlling a high ball on the edge of the Irish box and then beating Pierce Sweeney before seeing his low effort pushed narrowly wide.
But Ireland did pull a goal back just after the hour mark when O’Dowda turned provider and his deep cross was met on the volley by Sean Long, whose stunning effort flew across Jack Butland and into the far top corner.
Danny Ings chases down Ireland scorer Sean Long
It was a spirited performance from the Irish from there on, with England enjoying plenty of possession but finding a resolute and organised defence in front of them preventing any more goals.
At full-time there was more opportunity to prepare for what could lie ahead at the European Championship with a penalty shoot-out staged between the players remaining on the pitch.
And Southgate will have been pleased to see James Ward-Prowse, Jesse Lingard, Nathan Redmond, Ings and Carl Jenkinson all score from the spot, before Ireland’s Allan Browne crashed their final kick against the bar to gift a 5-4 win in favour of England.
England (4-3-3): 1 Jack Butland (Stoke City) (c ); 5 John Stones (Everton), 15 Michael Keane (Burnley), 20 Liam Moore (Leicester City), 3 Luke Garbutt (Everton); 4 Jake Forster-Caskey (Brighton & Hove Albion), 14 Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), 10 Tom Carroll (Tottenham Hotspur); 7 Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur), 18 Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion), 16 Jesse Lingard (Manchester United).
Substitutes: 17 Danny Ings (Burnley) for Berahino 46, 22 Matthew Targett (Southampton) for Garbutt 46, 6 Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) for Keane 58, James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) for Forster-Caskey 58, 11 Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) for Pritchard 58, 19 Will Hughes (Derby County) for Carroll 58, 2 Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal) for Stones 63
Substitutes not used: 13 Jonathan Bond (Watford), 12 Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham)
Goals: Tom Carroll 5, Saido Berahino 24, Nathaniel Chalobah 42
Republic of Ireland: 1 Daniel Rogers (Aberdeen); 2 Sean Long (Reading), 4 Glen Rea (Brighton & Hove Albion), 5 Darragh Lenihan (Blackburn Rovers) (c), 3 Shane Griffin (Reading); 6 Alan Browne (Preston North End), 8 Jack Connors (Dagenham & Redbridge); 7 Kenneth McEvoy (Tottenham Hotspur), 9 Conor Wilkinson (Bolton Wanderers), 10 Sean Kavanagh (Fulham), 11 Callum O’Dowda (Oxford United)
Substitutes: 17 Sean Maguire (West Ham United) for Wilkinson 46, 15 Pierce Sweeney (Reading) for Long 46, 12 Bradley Garmston (West Bromwich Albion) for Griffin 60
Substitutes not used: 13 Shamir Goodwin (Brighton & Hove Albion), 14 Kyle Callan-McFadden (Norwich City), 16 Eric Grimes (Leeds United), , 18 Harry Charsley (Everton), 25 Liam Bossin (RSC Anderlecht).
Goals: Sean Long 62
