England 2 v Holland 3 - International match

Wednesday 29th February 2012, at Wembley Stadium
International Match
England (0) 2 - Gary Cahill 85, Ashley Young 90
Holland (0) 3 - Arjen Robben 57, 90 Klaas Jan Huntelaar 59
Admission, various prices to suit all budgets but ours were £40 seats inc. £5 members discount
Programme £6, Attendance 76,283
England: Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Leighton Baines, Chris Smalling (Phil Jones, 64), Gary Cahill, Gareth Barry (James Milner, 46), Scott Parker, Adam Johnson (Stewart Downing, 61), Ashley Young, Steven Gerrard (Daniel Sturridge, 33), Danny Welbeck (Fraizer Campbell, 80).
Holland: Maarten Stekelenburg, Khalid Boulahrouz (Ron Vlaar, 82), Johnny Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen, Erik Pieters (Stijn Schaars, 46), Mark van Bommel, Dirk Kuyt, Nigel De Jong, Robin Van Persie (Klaas Jan Huntelaar, 46; Luuk De Jong, 62), Wesley Sneijder (Urby Emanuelson, 76), Arjen Robben.

Trooping of the colours

A strange night, with England warming up for a major international tournament with a caretaker manager, Stuart Pearce, at the helm.
On a positive note, Scott Parker put in a performance that justified him being made captain, putting in saving tackles and blocks to keep Holland at bay during the first half, in particular when he thwarted Robin van Persie with a last ditch clearance.
The game burst into life during the second half, when Holland scored two goals in quick succession.
Huntelaar’s decoy run took the England defence with him and Robben continued with his forward run from midfield into the space this created and put the ball past Hart into the back of the net.

Hold the card above your head when they play the national anthem to

become part of a massive England flag, it looks very effective on TV!

Two minutes later, Kuyt swung over a cross from the right wing ... and Huntelaar headed the Dutch two goals ahead. In doing so he clashed heads with Chris Smalling and both players needed to go off after treatment.
After the second Dutch goal and an enforced reshuffle, England got into the game more.
Cahill reduced the arrears with five minutes to go, when Baines slipped a through ball to the centre-back who neatly slipped the ball past Stekelenburg, possibly from an offside position.
Ashley Young equalised in the last minute. He was played through by Jones and 'dinked' the ball over Stekelenburg, into the far corner of the goal.
Holland had time to muster one last attack attack and Robben cleverly steered the ball home from inside the right hand side of the penalty area and ran away to celebrate the victory in front of a smaller than usual visiting support from the Netherlands.
Both sides had created plenty of chances/half chances on the night, but the visitors just about merited the win and Arjen Robben was probably the main difference over 90 minutes (plus stoppage time).
Announcement on behalf of North Notts Supporters Group:

Forthcoming coach trip:
England v Belgium
2nd June 2012
Wembley Stadium
5:15pm Kick Off
We are taking two coaches down to Wembley for the final match before the Euro 2012 Finals.
If there is sufficient interest, one of the coaches will leave Worksop railway station at 7.15am and arrive at Wembley seven hours before the match, allowing time to go into London for the Queens Jubilee celebrations.
The later coach, for those who are only interested in going to the match, will depart at 10am from Retford, 10.15 am from Worksop, 10.30am from Barlborough & 11.10 from Trowell services. Ring Stuart for times of all other M1 pick ups.
The coach fare is only £16 (£20 if the early coach operates)
Match tickets available at only £12 for kids and £23 for adults.
We park up at the Green Man pub, hosts to the englandfans party, less than 10 minutes walk to Wembley Stadium.
For bookings or further information, contact Stuart 07830291349 or email robwaiteretford@gmail.com