England’s Cerebral Palsy team racked up an incredible 10-0 win over Finland in their IFCPF European Championship opener on Thursday.
The Three Lions made a blistering start and were 5-0 up inside 10 minutes.
Captain Matt Crossen scored a hat-trick with the other goals coming from George Fletcher (2), Harry Baker (2), Jordan Twiss, on his international debut, and Lewis Tribe. An own goal compounded Finland’s misery.
England’s second match is against Russia on Saturday.
Head coach Andy Smith said: “I am delighted with the result particularly as we had some adverse classification results earlier in the week.
“The players applied themselves very well in extreme heat and I had the luxury of being able to give all squad players a 30-minute half.
“I was particularly pleased for Jack Fox and Jordan Twiss who made their senior debuts.
“Russia will be a much greater test and we will give it our very best.”
England: 1 Giles Moore, 2 Liam Irons, 3 Harry Baker, 4 Jordan Twiss, 5 Dale Smith, 6 Matt Crossen (capt), 7 George Fletcher.
Substitutes: Ryan Kay for Moore 31, Karl Townshend for Baker 31, Martin Sinclair for Twiss 31, Lewis Tribe for Smith 31, Jack Fox for Fletcher 31.
Head coach: Andy Smith
Goals: Crossen (3), Baker (2), Fletcher (2), Twiss, Tribe.
