Neil Dewsnip insists England have a bright future after his Under-18s side dispatched Israel to win a three-team mini tournament and kick-off their season in style.
After beating Italy by 2-1 last Thursday, England got to work early as Morgan Feeney broke the deadlock in the eighth minute at Morecambe’s Globe Arena.
And two goals from Sheffield Wednesday striker George Hirst put the game out of sight by the break, before substitute Reiss Nelson and Jaden Brown scored second-half goals either side of Ofek Nadir’s consolation.
England 5-1 Israel
International U18 Match
Monday 5 September 2016
Globe Arena, Morecambe FC
By Derek Quinn
Dewsnip singled out Hirst for praise, but was delighted with the whole squad after two encouraging performances.
"George looked good tonight and is a real handful in front of goal. He is a threat and has more to come I'm sure," the head coach said.
"It was another good performance and there was a lot to praise the lads for.
"To win a game 5-1 against any opposition is nice and to win the overall trophy is great and it has been a good ten days together for us all.
"We made a lot of changes from the Italy game but you would not have thought so because the lads looked so comfortable.
"We have a lot of good players at this level and it is important that we give as many of them a taste of football at this level and at places like Morecambe and that is what we did tonight.
"The only disappointment really was the goal we conceded. We had a sloppy ten minutes or so were we didn't do the easy things right and tried to over play and they made us pay."
England Under-18s head coach Neil Dewsnip was pleased with his side's display against Israel
In the first half, the boot was on the other foot as England routinely made Israel pay in a fine 45 minutes.
Captain Feeney nodded in the first from Mason Mount’s corner and, although Brown missed a penalty in the 35th minute, Hirst added two more before the break.
Ben Morris’ cross was headed in by the striker, who then scored England’s second penalty after being fouled.
Dewsnip made changes at half time and it paid off immediately as Nelson waltzed past several challenges before lashing a shot past the keeper.
Israel pulled one back with a well-worked goal of their own as Nadir created an opening in the box and sent a deflected shot off Dennis Adeniran into the net, but England completed the win in style as Brown converted Hirst’s unselfish pass following a fluid move.
England Under-18s: 1 Ryan Sandford (Millwall), 2 Jordan Williams (Huddersfield Town), 5 Morgan Feeney (Everton) (c), 6 Jonathan Dinzeyi (Tottenham Hotspur), 3 Jaden Brown (Tottenham Hotspur); 8 Andre Dozzell (Ipswich Town), 4 Marcus McGuane (Arsenal), 7 Ben Morris (Ipswich Town), 10 Mason Mount (Chelsea),11 Jonathan Leko (West Bromwich Albion); 9 George Hirst (Sheffield Wednesday)
Substitutes: 16 Dennis Adeniran (Fulham) for Williams 46, 17 Reiss Nelson (Arsenal) for Leko 46, 14 Sadou Diallo (Manchester City) for McGuane 61, 12 Tolaji Bola (Arsenal) for Dozzell 64, 18 Niall Ennis (Wolverhampton Wanderers) for Morris 76
Substitutes not used: 13 Jared Thompson (Chelsea), 15 Ahogrenashinme Kigbu (Manchester City)
Head Coach: Neil Dewsnip
Goals: Morgan Feeney 8, George Hirst 43, 45, Reiss Nelson 54, Jaden Brown 74
Yellow card: Marcus McGuane 56
Israel Under-18s: 1 Amit Merigan; 2 Noam Cohen, 4 Omir Luzun, 5 Raz Shlomo, 3 Ofek Nadir; 6 Jiji Daraselia, 8 Netanel Peretz; 7 Muhamad Sarsur, 10 Neil Goldberg; 11 Yagil Ohana, 9 Yarin Sharabi
Substitutes: 13 Avi Butbul for Sharabi 46, 15 Ori Zohar for Daraselia 46, 16 Wasi Altharash for Ohana 52, 17 Roy Amos for Goldberg 68, 12 Salah Najer for Peretz 84, 14 Goni Naor for Cohen 84
Substitute not used: 18 Roy Beigel
Head coach: Ofer Fabian
Goal: Ofek Nadir 59
Yellow cards: Omir Luzun 30, Jiji Daraselia 31, Raz Shlomo 34
