A STEP TOO FAR BUT SO MUCH TO SAVOUR
IT’S the final team meeting before the big kick-off and Paul Fairclough throws a question to the floor on what the worst case scenario would be in the early part of a game.
Immersed in two semi-circles, eyes fixed on the boss, the 16man Three Lions squad responded with the kind of answers you’d perhaps expect. ‘Conceding an early goal’, one said, ‘giving away a penalty’ added another, quickly followed by a shout of ‘having a man sent off ’. All duly noted and agreed.
Fairclough’s aim, of course, was to make the point that victory can arise from the face of adversity, but sadly for the stalwart coach, a combination of more than one worst case scenario proved just too much to bear this time round.
Typically, Fairclough had left no stone unturned in his bid to unlock a talented Slovakian U23 side and swipe the International Challenge Trophy from right under their noses in their own back yard.
Despite the usual late withdrawals through injury after a busy weekend of FA Cup action, the former Stevenage and Barnet boss revealed he had never prepared an England C team better for a game, starting with his now-infamous player interviews which brought his squad closer from the outset.
Amid the beautiful backdrop of the Slovakian mountains, that bond grew stronger by the day. A fiercely-contested crazy golf challenge at the team hotel yielded a winner in Blyth Spartans’ eight-handicapper Andrew Cartwright – and ear flicks for the unlucky loser Jordan Kiwomya of the FA – while Maidenhead’s Sam Barratt returned home as England C’s water slide champion. It was that kind of week.
Naturally though, things took a far more serious turn on the training ground as Fairclough set about executing his game plan to exact revenge on a Slovakian side who had edged a 4-3 thriller between the sides at Sutton United’s Gander Green Lane 18 months ago.
While only three of the squad survived that day, no fewer than 13 were dipping their toes in international waters for the first time and they soon got a taste of the top on visiting the impressive Ziar nad Hronon stadium for a scheduled training session in front of over 100 starstruck local school children on Tuesday afternoon.
Word that those youngsters would take their place in a capacity 2,200-crowd for the game the following day – a ticket allocation which sold out in just two hours – brought an air of surrealism to the players and come the morning of the match, a relaxed, yet determined aura was taken out onto the training ground for one final summing up.
With players playing for places on the training field, Fairclough admitted that team selection was tough, but having settled on his starting line-up and a 4-2-3-1 formation – while informing each player of their jobs one-on-one – the Three Lions were ready for battle.
Standing in their way of the gleaming trophy, sat proud on a plinth in front of the dugouts however, was a Slovakian team who knew all about playing on the biggest stage. Star man David Ivan is a regular at Sampdoria, while midfield partner Martin Chrien has played in the Champions League with Benfica. Add that to the likes of Lille goalkeeper Adam Jakubech, Aalborg striker Pavol Safranko and Wolves midfielder Christian Herc on the bench, and you have a tough task ahead.
It was no surprise therefore to see the Slovakians show up first with right winger Filip Orsula, in particular, lively.
Grant Smith, in the England goal, kept his side in it with two point-blank saves to deny Jakub Paur’s header and a Skovajsa free-kick before the Three Lions showed resolve themselves with Fejiri Okenabirhie and Barratt forcing a fine double save from Jakubech on the half hour.
But just as they appeared to be taking the upper hand, Slovakia took the lead on 37 minutes – Paur’s cross from the left finding Orsula, who chested the ball across goal, away from the attentions of touch-tight David Ferguson, before sliding the ball over a committed Smith.
Then, two minutes later, Barratt – watched by nine friends and family who had flown over to watch his Lions’ debut – brought down Skovajsa in the box only for Lubomir Satka to smash his spot-kick on top of the crossbar and into the crowd behind the goal.
But any hope that England C would capitalise on their moment of fortune soon disappeared seconds later when Cartwright lunged in on Ivan right in front of Icelandic referee Heldi Jonasson, who
brandished the red card when yellow might have sufficed. Fairclough’s response was to bring on Joe Ward and Dan Johnson for Barratt and Josh Rees at the break, but within seconds the uphill task got even steeper when Ivan rounded off the move of the match to fire into the far bottom corner of the net, evading the desperate lunge of Louis John. By now Slovakia were in full flow and when half-time tute Michal Fasko latched onto onto Ivan’s through-ball to slot past Smith, it was a question of how many the hosts would score in front of a now ecstatic home crowd. Credit to England C, though, they kept plugging away with two Ferguson crosses from the left fashioning good headed chances for Jake Gallagher and Ward before Herc popped up at the far post to head home number four on 69 minutes from Fasko’s deep cross. Morgan Ferrier and Jack Powell both saw rasping efforts fly narrowly wide of the frame, and England’s frustration was compounded in the final minute – Powell’s in-swinging free-kick from the left finding the head of Alex Wynter, who glanced the ball expertly inside the far post only to be denied a deserved consolation by the assistant referee’s flag. The final whistle was greeted to raptures by the capacity crowd, while the warm appreciation for the Three Lions by the home fans heralded a brave display. Sadly for Fairclough and his squad, this proved a bridge too far, but the boss was full of praise for his side, saying: “I’m very proud of the lads, it’s been a fantastic week. Slovakia are a very technical side, very skilful, very strong, very powerful, but for 30 to 35 minutes there was not a great deal in it. And in actual fact the stats showed we probably got into their box more than they did ours and got in more shots than them.
“However, there was a foul on our centre-half leading up to their first goal and we might have got away with a yellow card for the sending-off. It did look a fierce tackle and that’s where the game hinges.
“We had to re-jig things around at half-time and sacrifice a couple of lads who had done well, and spent a good five minutes talking about how we could get through the first five minutes – and then they scored after 56 seconds!
“From then on in it was a tough call but I was delighted with the way we re-grouped as a unit, still looking to score. That makes me prouder.
“I can’t fault any of the players for their commitment. That’s probably the most prepared we have ever been for a football match. You just can’t legislate for things like that.”