Wednesday 30 November 2011

Winterton Rangers 2 v Staveley Miners Welfare 1 - Baris NCEL Premier Division

Wednesday 30th November 2011, at West Street
Baris NCEL Premier Division
Winterton Rangers (2) 2
Gavin Cooper 3, Rob Sanderson 30
Staveley Miners Welfare (0) 1
Joe Thornton 75
Admission £5, Programme £1.20, Attendance 80
In August Winterton lost twice at Staveley in the space of a week, in both the League and League Cup.
Tonight Rangers turned the tables on their Derbyshire visitors and deservedly took the three points.
The home side's performance warranted the result, but at times, I'm sad to say, their discipline left a lot to be desired.
Which is a real shame, because they're obviously capable of playing decent, attacking, attractive, passing football.
A friend of mine had been checking out the West Street side a few times of late and had a lot of good things to say about them, so knowing how Staveley like to play the game, I figured West Street would be a safe bet for an entertaining game of football tonight.
Alas, any real quality only shone through for a few fleeting moments, whilst a strong cross wind blowing in from the clubhouse end of the ground and certain other aspects of the game dominated proceedings.
"Certain other aspects of the game"

Staveley have hit a bit of a blip in form of late and they were slow coming out of the blocks tonight.
Gavin Cooper received the ball six yards out on three minutes after Staveley had failed to deal with a ball in from the left.
He had the time and space to turn and pick his spot and Winterton were ahead.
With the strong wind behind them ... and mindful of the fact that Staveley would have the same advantage after the break ... Rangers put the visitors goal under pressure.
Ian Deakin did well to tip a Jake Stannard over the bar with one hand after the Winterton number 9 had tried lobbing him from the edge of the box.
Rob Sanderson doubled the home sides lead on 30 minutes.
Maybe the Staveley defence were guilty of ball watching as Sanderson headed home unmarked and unchallenged, but Winterton were playing well and to be fair it was the least they deserved.
But then the wheels came off a bit and the game descended into farce shortly before half time, when an unsightly and unnecessary punch up broke out.
It kicked off when Jake Stannard grabbed Staveley's Richard Patterson by the throat and threw him aside, right in front of the referee. He had to go ... and once calm was (just About) restored he was shown a red card.
Several other players were fortunate not to have joined him.
There was also a marked change in the sniping little clique of Winterton fans we were sat near, who had been very outspoken but quite amusing up to this point.
Their acerbic wit turned to unbridled hostility for a while and anybody within earshot was fair game.
Whenever I've been to West Street before, the 'banter' and pithy comment from the crowd have always provided me with a great source of entertainment, but tonight, I'm not sure what Staveley are supposed to have done to wind them up, but the vitriol and personal abuse aimed at some of those who had travelled over from Derbyshire, made for a different kind of atmosphere altogether.
Never mind hey!?
They had paid their money to get in and were entitled to an opinion.
And I'm sure their bark is a lot worse than their actual bite.
That said, can we have a bit more of the cutting humour and a bit less of the angry verbals next time we're down Winterton way please chaps?
In the second half, even against ten men and with 'benefit' of the wind assistance, Staveley struggled to find any kind of cohesion and rhythm, as Rangers put up a dogged and determined resistance.
Joe Thornton headed home Jordan Eagers cross on 75 minutes to make the score 2-1.
But then Winterton closed ranks and fought like demons to hang on to their lead as both Ferguson and Tahar came close to finding an equaliser.
The wind was really picking up now and the difficult conditions as much as anything else thwarted a couple of counter attacks the home side made in an attempt to make the game safe.
Winterton held on until the final whistle (which came after a lengthy period of stoppage time) and took all three points.
Hmm, who'd be a referee!?
Staveley seem to have gone off the boil a bit over their last few games and will be disappointed with tonight's result and performance.
But Rangers look capable of beating anybody if they play the way they did for the majority of the first half.
I think it would be fair to say, there are obviously people at Winterton who don't like Staveley very much, but I can't really comment on any of that because I don't know what the motivation is behind their 'rationale'.
But certain people clearly had issues with tonight's visitors.
That said, I look forward to seeing these two teams playing the football they're both capable of again any time soon.
Hopefully without the histrionics and high winds.

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Mansfield Town 1 v Gateshead 1 - BSBP

Prior to kick off a couple of Mansfield players go over the pitch with fine
toothed combs looking for clues
... just where is that next win hiding?

Tuesday 29th November 2011, at Field Mill
Blue Square Bet Premier Division
Mansfield Town (1) 1
Ross Dyer 10
Gateshead (0) 1
Joe Shaw 68
Admission £15, Programme £3,
Attendance 1513 (inc. 34 from Gateshead)
Mansfield Town
1 Marriott, 5 Thompson, 17 Sutton, 30 Freeman, 31 Dempster, 8 Stevenson (Briscoe 73 minutes), Murray, Verma (Bolland 39 minutes), 10 Green, 15 Dyer, 24 Meikle
Unused subs - 23 Redmond, 16 O'Neill, 32 Rodney

Gateshead
24 Alnwick, 3 Rents, 5 Curtis, 6 Clark, 25 Henderson (Carruthers 83 minutes), 4 Gate, 8 Turnbull, 17 Marwood, 18 Nix, 9 Shaw, 19 Moore (Fisher 66 miutes)
Unused subs - 1 Deasy, 7 Brittain, 16 Gillies

Message to 8 year old family member:
Dear Bella,
Next time you're playing on the Nintendo Wii, don't nick the batteries out of my really nice camera for the remote controllers and nun chucks, because my phone takes rubbish pictures of football matches.
If it happens again I will be painting 'SANTA, DON'T STOP HERE' on the roof.
That is all!
Inevitable outcome tonight at Field Mill.
The home side missed a multitude of chances, both before and after Ross Dyer had scored the opening goal on 15 minutes following some neat build up play between Adam Murray and Aman Verma ... and the longer the score stayed at 1-0, the greater the likelihood became that a certain in form, ex Mansfield Town centre forward, would grab an equaliser.
It took until nearly the 70th minute in the end, but sure enough (Shaw enough?), when Sam Rents floated an inviting cross into the box, you know who was waiting to head the ball home from close range in front of Gateshead's small away following in the North Stand.
That's six games in a row without a win for the Stags, since they scraped that late comeback against 9 man Alfreton back on September 22nd.
Mansfield had enough decent chances to have been comfortably in front by the time Joe Shaw scored, but towards the end of the game were hanging on a bit as Gateshead staged a late rally.
This result leaves the Field Mill side six points off the last play off berth, with an all important game in hand ... the season needs resurrecting NOW as a matter of urgency.
Come on you Stags, surely you are better than the recent run of bad form suggests ... aren't you!?I must mention ...
REEEESPECT!
To Adam Soar, who bought his army of vocal Stags supporters with him, from up in Section G of the West Stand, into their new home tonight ... the centre of the Quarry Lane End.
Great atmosphere guys, keep it up!
You're more than welcome up in my regular chosen vantage point any time.
But I have to say, that beard is getting a bit unkempt mate ;-)

Sunday 27 November 2011

FC United of Manchester 2 v Altrincham 1 - FA Trophy

Sunday 27th November 2011, at Gigg Lane, Bury FC
FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
FC United of Manchester (1) 2
Carlos Roca 45+, Mike Norton 78
Altrincham (0) 1
Jack Redshaw 52
Admission £8, Programme £2, Attendance 1,945
FC United of Manchester:
For line up see chalk board below.
Altrincham:
1) Stuart Coburn 2) Mark Lees 3) Ryan Brown 4) Anthony Danylyk 5) Rob Williams 6) Adam Flynn 7) Simon Richman 8) Shaun Densmore 9) Jack Redshaw 10) Damien Reeves 11) Nicky Clee
Subs - 12) Joe Coombs 14) Michael Twiss 15) James Lawrie 16) Duncan Watmore 18) Adam Reid (GK)
These two sides have only ever met each other in a couple of friendly matches prior to this afternoon.
A couple of firsts today then.
The inaugural 'Manchester derby' between these two sides and the only time FCUM have made it through to the 1st Round proper of the FA Trophy, by virtue of them winning this tie.
'Alty', having escaped relegation from the Conference by the skin of their teeth a couple of times, play in the Blue Square North these days, while FC United of Manchester/Moston are pushing for a play off spot in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League.

A view from the Manchester Road End

From the outset, it looked as though Altrincham would rise to the occasion and their 'higher calibre' of players would knock the ball around their hosts and cut them open at the back.
But their lively start fizzled out fairly soon.
A couple of early 'Alty' advances towards the Manchester Road end came to nothing ... and having weathered some early pressure, it was the home side who started to pick up some momentum.
Greg Stones was putting up a stubborn and determined rearguard action keeping the visitors attack in check, whilst Carlos Roca, an ex Altrincham player, was causing his former side all kinds of trouble down the left flank and Mick Norton was keeping the Robins goalkeeper Stuart Coburn on his toes.
It looked however, as if the first half was going to remain goalless, which reflected the actual amount of clear cut chances either side had actually created to be fair.
But Carlos Roca had other ideas.
Two minutes into stoppage time he unleashed an unstoppable shot from 25 yards out and Coburn was beaten all ends up.
Roca seems to score a spectacular goal every time I see him play, the most recent being against Frickley Athletic at Westfield Lane just over a month ago.
At half time we bumped into some FCUM fans we knew who were on their way to the bar, they invited us to join them, but once more I was the designated driver so I had to decline.
A shame really, because the last session I'd had with them was the stuff of legend by all accounts, not that any of those of us who participated can confirm that or even remember very much about the events of the day/night.
Thankfully, the 'future Mrs Waite' got me home in her car that night (by all accounts), cheers Linz, I owe you one ;-)
Altrincham won a right wing corner on 52 minutes, Nicky Clee floated it over and through a crowd of bodies Jack Redshaw got his head to it and equalised in front of the visiting supporters in the Cemetery Road End of the ground.
It was game on now and for a while the Blue Square North side looked like they were bucking their ideas up and were going to take the initiative, but FC United had other ideas and kept pushing the visitors back as they looked for another goal themselves.
On 65minutes it looked as though Kyle Jacobs had put the home side back in front, but there was a lot of back spin on his shot from ten yards out and it rattled back off the post.
With hindsigh,t he should've just belted the ball instead of trying to place it.
We were in the Manchester Road End to see what the atmosphere in there was like first hand and after Jacobs hit the post, the noise level rose.
Virtually everybody in the 'MRE' stands for the duration of the game and the section in the middle sing throughout, but now their team needed an extra lift to raise their game, the whole end of the ground joined in and there was also a lot of noise coming from the main stand.
On 78 minutes Roca sent Astley Mullholland (another ex Altrincham player) away on the right, his pin point cross was met by Micky Norton who powered home a header from the edge of the six yard box.I was walking across the front of the stand when Norton scored, my good lady had already put my camera in her bag, but I did get a blurred approximation of the goal being scored on my cheap and nasty mobile phone camera (above).
'Alty' struggled to get back into the game now, though it was a nail biting last few minutes for the home fans ... and after 4 minutes of stoppage time FCUM were through to the first round proper.
I was parked right on the road outside the ground and we were soon away, the home fans were still in the ground celebrating and we could hear the visitors singing 'You're not fit to wear the shirt' at their team.
A passing Altrincham fan was moaning to the young lad with him, about how Alty used to be the biggest Non League club in the area, but today's result marked a significant moment and it looks as if the balance of power was shifting.
A bit melodramatic maybe, but food for thought never the less.
My sidekick was asking loads of questions about FC United on the way home, but I don't have the answers or scope of insider knowledge to answer any of them.
I was just a complete neutral here to watch a cup tie ... and to that end I enjoyed my afternoon out.
To outsiders, there are more questions than answers to quite a lot of the issues surrounding this unique, one off club, but I'm only interested in the football, not politics ... and in Carlos Roca they have one of the best exponents of that noble art in the whole of the Non League game.
Altrincham must be kicking themselves for letting him go, but on today's showing they wouldn't hurt themselves, they'd probably miss!

Saturday 26 November 2011

Gainsborough Trinity 0 v Hinckley United 1 - FA Trophy

Saturday 26th November 2011, at the Northolme
FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round
Gainsborough Trinity (0) 0
Hinckley United (1) 1 (Andre Gray 30)
Admission £10, Programme £2.50, Attendance 321
Trinity only have themselves to blame for the fact that they're not in the hat for Monday's FA Trophy draw.
Today, in my uneducated opinion, saw the home side collectively and simultaneously fail to get going from the very start of the game right through until the final whistle.
They seemed lacking in desire and purpose for most of the afternoon if truth be told.
I suppose one could say, if the players are going to have an off day then they might as well all get it out of the way at once ... but it made for a very tedious 90 minutes for those of us who had paid to get in to the Northolme to watch a game of football ... or at least something loosely resembling one.
I can't imagine the blustery conditions out on the park made ball control very easy, but football is a winter sport and the players should be used to adapting to such conditions.
Gainsborough certainly had the chances early in the game (and right at the end) to have won this Trophy tie comfortably.
But though one could say they didn't get the rub of the green at key moments, you could also say the final touch was always missing, the application in the final third was woeful and the cohesion between the attacking players non existent at times.
It was almost as if their players didn't believe they had it in them to win this game.
A defeatist mindset seems to be creeping in to a team who haven't won a game in their last six outings now, a barren run that consists of one draw and five defeats.
You can almost see the confidence draining out of one or two of the Trinity players.
Steve Housham must now be a psychologist, as well as a manager and re-instil some self belief to his charges, reminding them they are still the same team who recently went on a run of decent wins which culminated in a 6-1 away victory at Eastwood Town.
Hinckley never created a great deal of chances today, but when Kenny Arthur pushed Andy Gooding's free kick around the post on 19 minutes, it should have been a wake up call to the Blues, that if they didn't apply the advantage they should have had by then, they could come unstuck at the other end.
On the half hour mark, Kenny Arthur found his goal under attack from Jacob Joyce and Andre Gray.
Joyce was in possession so Arthur opted to cut out his route, but the visitors number 9 slipped the ball to his sidekick Gray, who fired the ball home for what turned out to be the only goal of the game.
Four minutes later the same pair repeated their two pronged surge into the box, but this time Gray passed the ball sideways to Joyce who took the ball a stride too far and Arthur was able to cut out the danger.
From then on in, Trinity did get the ball into the visitors box quite regularly (they even had goals ruled out for offside at the end of both halves), but the United defence were clearing their lines with consummate ease and repelled any minor threat the home side created without too much fuss.
And the longer this went on, the more frantic and less measured the Trinity became in their approach.
At times, they resorted to hitting long balls, which the Hinckley defence could've dealt with all afternoon if they needed to.
Amidst a goalmouth scramble, on 75 minutes the ball thumped against the inside of Hinckley's woodwork and was cleared off the line. If the ball wasn't going in from that sort of range, then it never was.
I heard a Trinity fan say on the way out that Hinckley's keeper had been given the afternoon off and hadn't had much to do. I'm not sure which game he had been watching, because Denham Hinds in the Knitters goal had made several saves in the first twenty minutes and a really good one right near the end of the game.
Though the ball had been kicked straight at him for a couple of those blocks, so maybe 'Angry of Ropery Road' hadn't counted them.
As a neutral, the game was disappointing and frustrating to watch in equal measure, so lord knows what this (non) performance must've been like from the perspective of my Trinity supporting friends who endured it.
This was the third defeat they've seen on home turf in the last eleven days.
Ouch!
Gainsborough now have a week off before their away trip to Corby Town, a team who are snapping at their heels, just a point behind them in the Blue Square North table.
They really need to start taking a bit of individual and collective responsibility on board, whilst getting a bit of a 'back to basics' kick up the backside in training.
It is worth remembering that Trinity are still fifth in the table, after a couple of disappointing league campaigns under their previous manager.
And the FA Trophy is probably a competition they weren't realistically likely to win anyway, so without the distraction of any fixture congesting cup run to work around, they can now get their their heads together, knuckle down and focus on finishing as high in the league table as possible.
This season is far from over yet and there is no time like the present for addressing the recent blip in form before it gets out of hand.
Note, though I've rambled on, I haven't actually written very much about the game itself ... well, that's because there wasn't a great deal to write about.
Gainsborough's ever increasing army of young fans

To be frank, but perfectly fair too, it was a chronic game.
Positives from today ... Hmm, home by five past five, it didn't rain, the beer (and clientèle) in the Blues club were very agreeable and I must mention the match day programme, which improves both layout and content wise, every time I visit the Northolme ... keep up the good work Jacob Marshall!

Thursday 24 November 2011

Mansfield Town U19 3 v New College (Nottingham) 2 - Friendly

Thursday 24th November 2011
at Kirklington Road, Rainworth Miners Welfare FC
Mansfield Town U19 (1) 3
Matt Harris, Jordan Jones, Danny Toto King Bisungu
New College (Nottingham) (1) 2
Admission £3, no programme, Attendance 35ish
Raffle winner - Me :-)
24 hours on from their 1-1 draw away to Boston United, the Stags Under 19's faced a Nottinghamshire representative side from the New College in Nottingham at Rainworth Miners Welfare ground on Kirklington Road.
The opposition gave Mansfield a good run out in what was a close fought game, with very little to choose between two well matched sides.
The 7pm kick off meant I only arrived shortly before the game ... lets just say, Ollerton Roundabout is barely adequate in dimensions to deal with an average sized Scalextric layout, let alone provide a focal point for North Notts busy 'rush hour' traffic flow.
It's been a while since I've been to Kirklington Road, I used to come here quite often.
I'll have to make a point of dropping in to see Rainworth MW play in the near future.
You have been warned ;-)
It was good to bump into Rainworth's Commercial Manager Steve Peat tonight, a good friend and old school Stags die-hard who I haven't seen in ages.
Looking around the ground it was apparent that the Wrens are getting the backing of some quite prestigious local sponsors, if you want to add your backing to that list, I'm sure the 'big lad' would only be too pleased to hear from you ...
Not one to miss a trick, Steve did suggest that I could donate my half time raffle prize back to the club (I had the choice between wine and chocolates, I chose the box of Quality Street), but I already had plans for them, so he asked if he could just have all the strawberry centres instead.
When I got home, I presented the 'gift' to my young lady who was laid on the sofa watching 'I'm a C list nearly famous person you've never heard of, get me out of the jungle, but leave Ant n' Dec here' (approximate title), but before I could claim I was indulging her with a romantic gesture, she looked up and said 'Woo hoo! Look who won the raffle!'
Hmpph! Sussed out ... and don't go putting the empty wrappers back in the box ;-)
Matt Harris put Mansfield ahead, but the Notts side weren't going to sit back and be on the end of a good hiding like certain other teams have been lately and they were on level terms before half time.
Jordan Jones, looking impressive for the Stags again, like he had when he turned out for the first team XI in a friendly at Eastwood last week, put the MTFC Academy side back in front, but once again the New College team were soon back in the game with a cracking goal from the edge of the box. I scribbled the goalscorers details down, but foolishly mislaid my scrap of paper with times and names on before I got home.
It took a touch of class to separate the two sides in the end, when Danny Toto King Bisungu, scored with a sublime finish from the edge of the box and then did a couple of cartwheels to celebrate.
Danny was on the books of a small Scottish club called Glasgow Celtic, but his career has taken a turn for the better since he joined Mansfield Town.
http://www.mansfieldtown.net/page/Youth/0,,10325~2509674,00.html
A decent enough game, arranged at short notice which explains why there were only a few dozen people present to see it.

Next up - On Saturday I'll be at Gainsborough Trinity v Hinckley United in the FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

England 2 v Serbia 0 - Euro 2013 Qualifier

Wednesday 23rd November 2012
at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster Rovers FC
Women's Euro 2013 Qualifier
England (1) 2
Jess Clarke 41, Ellen White 51
Serbia (0) 0
Admission £5, Programme £3, Attendance 4112
England:
1 Karen Bardsley, 2 Alex Scott, 3 Rachel Unitt, 4 Jill Scott,
5 Sophie Bradley, 6 Casey Stoney(C), 7 Jess Clarke, 8 Fara Williams (Substituted 15 Steph Houghton 77 mins), 9 Ellen White (Substituted 18 Rachel Williams 87 mins), 10 Karen Carney,
11 Rachel Yankey (Substituted 12 Kelly Smith 70 mins)
Unused Subs- 13 Siobhan Chamberlain, 14 Laura Bassett,
16 Dunia Susi, 17 Fern Whelan
Serbia:
1 Milena Vukovic, 2 Danijela Trajkovic, 5 Lidija Stojkanovic(C),
7 Jovana Sretenovic (Substituted 6 Indira Ilic 65 mins),
8 Aleksandra Savanovic, 9 Danka Podovac, 10 Milena Pesic (Substituted 20 Marija Ilic 73 mins), 11 Vesna Smiljkovic,
15 Violeta Slovic, 16 Marija Radojicic, 18 Jovana Damnjanovic
Unused Subs - 3 Zorica Karadzic, 12 Ana Ivanov, 17 Olivera Markovic, 19 Nevena Damjanovic, 21 Kristina Krstic
A 'must win' game for Hope Powell's England Ladies side tonight in this Group 6, Euro 2013 Qualifier at Donny Rovers.
Doncaster is an absolute pain in the backside to get to at the moment.
On going roadworks on the A1 are causing a total gridlock that way ... and the delays were compounded tonight by a lorry crashing on the alternative Bawtry Road route.
This probably accounts for most of the crowd turning up at the last minute, or even after the scheduled 7.30PM kick off time.
Thankfully I used to work round these parts and I know a way in to town that circumnavigates the back of an industrial estate ... it was great fun to zoom along uninterrupted, around an empty access road, while just yards away hundreds of frustrated motorists, glumly sat in static queues of traffic, wondering if they would ever get home from work tonight.
UEFA had decreed that there would be no alcohol on sale in the ground tonight and the bars were all closed, so there wasn't really very much to do before the game.
There is alcohol on sale at every other bloody England game I go to, so why not tonight?
I was driving anyway, but a nice warm bar to sit in and read my programme would've been more fun than sitting in an empty stadium for almost a hour until everybody else turned up.
There were a group of pitiful free-loaders hanging around the players entrance seeing if they could blag any tickets that might be going spare, they were the same ones who usually do exactly the same when Rovers are at home.
That isn't an indictment of Doncaster football fans I hasten to add, every team has them, so called 'loyal never miss a game fans' who never actually put a penny into the clubs they claim to support.
Three Lionesses ... the pride of England :-O

And wherever you go you can spot these people a mile off, they're all cut from the identical trogdolyte cloth and are a spitting image of each other ... hideous and loathsome little creatures, merely put on this earth to generate dandruff, buy the clothes nobody else wants off the Tesco sale rail and utter but two words from their ugly misshapen faces, 'Any spares!?'
Tickets were only a fiver tonight anyway, half that for concessions and Rovers fans, yet still the drooling underbelly of society were clamouring for freebies.
Some people have no class and no shame.The 'England band' didn't have far to travel tonight (they're Wednesdayites) and unfortunately they came over South Yorkshire from Sheffield, with their bloody musical instruments in tow.
But thankfully they located themselves over in the far corner from us.
Opinion is divided about the band, amongst the Wembley regulars at England first team games.
Some people think they should 'bloody shut up' and that there is no place for trumpets and drums at football matches, others just don't like them being there and hate the racket they make, but I'm going to sit on the fence on this subject and say my own opinion falls in between those two 'opposing' schools of thought ;-)
Apparently the kids like them ... hmm, go and play in youth clubs then!
England started the liveliest and were obviously out to make amends for the injury time goal Vesla Smiljkovic scored, that had denied them three points in Serbia in Belgrade in September, when the two sides drew 2-2.
But after chances went begging from Ellen White and Karen Carney, Smiljkovic almost undid England again, when her pinpoint cross found Jovana Damnjanovic, but Karen Bardsley saved well.
Land of 'Hope' and glory

The near miss spurred England into action and Rachel Yankey, White, Carney and Jill Scott all went close.
Just before half time, England's always lively and hard working Jess Clarke, started and finished a move with White and Yankey and drilled the ball into the back of the net from 15 yards out.
Right on the stroke of half time the Serbia keeper Milena Vukovic got down well to turn a shot from Rachel Unitt round the post. Vukovic had pulled off a couple of top class reflex saves, but at other times her handling and positioning had looked a bit suspect and she was a bit fortunate that the half time score was only 1-0.
Six minutes after half time, England scored again. Yankey crossed into the box, was knocked back across the face of the goal by Clarke to Carney who's shot was saved by Vukovic, but White was on hand to knock the ball home from the rebound.
The game was now effectively over and as England pushed to try improving their goal difference in the group, Serbia lost their way even more in a game England were already dominating.
I can only recall the visitors having one attempt on goal in the second half, when Marija Radojicic blazed a speculative effort over the bar.
England's performance warranted a bigger margin of victory, but it was the three points that mattered more than anything, because England are now second in the group, two points behind Holland, who they still have to play on home soil in June, having already drawn 0-0 against the Dutch in Zwolle last month.
Current Group 6 table:
Holland - Played 4 Points 10
England - Played 4 Points 8
Serbia - Played 5 Points 7
Slovenia - Played 4 Points 1
Croatia - Played 3 Points 1

England remaining Group 6 fixtures:
All venues still to be confirmed
13th March - Croatia (A)
17th June - Holland (H)
21st June - Slovenia (A)
19th September - Croatia (H)