Courtesy: The FA

Out for the count

By Dermot Collins. Friday, 24 June 2005.

England's second match against Romania ended in bitter disappointment at the Sports Palace in Tugre Mures on Wednesday night.

After an encouraging performance the previous evening against a team 40 ranking places in advance of England, the next meeting was perhaps a game too far for Graeme Dell's young team, going down to a humbling 0-12 defeat.

The first half was played in much the same fashion as the previous evening with England enjoying long periods of possession and the Romanians seeking to launch rapid counterattacks.

Graeme Smith replaced Farai Jackson in goal and found himself called upon to deal with numerous one-on-one situations as the home side played with pace, guile and movement that had been largely missing from their performance the previous evening.

England's tactics that had proved to be so effective on Tueday wilted under the skill and speed of Romania's Lupu, Tiberiu and Kacso. Smith's agility and speed off his line defied them on a number of occasions but goals were inevitable and England finished the half 4-0 down.

After the break it turned to disaster for the Three Lions as they struggled to compete against a buoyant Romanian team cheered on by a near-capacity crowd.

England tired and conceded possession regularly whilst Romania punished every mistake. Goals followed at regular intervals and things were made worse when England began to concede 10-metre penalties when they exceeded the five fouls live with still ten minutes on the clock.

Romania finished as comfortable victors much to the delight of their fans and a large national TV audience.

These fixtures against Romania were thus a case of two steps forward, one step back for Dell's team. An excellent performance against a superior team on Tuesday was undermined by an overwhelming defeat the next day.

The team's failure to score is an obvious cause for concern. This will be a key consideration for Dell as he reshuffles his squad for forthcoming fixtures against Poland to include six first-choice players who were unavailable for the Romania trip.

He will also hope that that the forthcoming FA Futsal finals identify talented Futsal players who can be invited to join the F30 group.

Despite Wednesday's bruising encounter Graeme Dell will have been pleased with the form shown by Buckley Town's Farai Jackson. The performance of the keeper on Tuesday night earned him minor cult status and the loudest reception from the appreciative Romanian fans on Wednesday evening.

Dell's experienced players Canham, Gallen and Elford performed solidly whilst Slough Town's Glen Harris made a confident and impressive debut