http://www.thefa.com/England/U21s/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2006/08/
U21sMoldova.htm

Moldova spoil the party
By Jamie Bradbury at Portman Road. Tuesday, 15 August 2006.

             England  2-2  Moldova
Walcott 3, Nugent 76       Alexeev 75, Zislis 87

UEFA European U21 Championship Group 8 Qualifier
8pm, Tuesday 15 August
Portman Road, Ipswich Town FC

Theo Walcott made history once again on Tuesday night, this time for the
Under-21s but the night ended in disappointment as England began their UEFA
European Under-21 Championship Qualification campaign with a 2-2 draw with
Moldova.

The visitors never looked overawed, despite going behind twice to Walcott’s
strike and a second-half header from David Nugent, and will return home
delighted with their party-pooping display.

The night looked set to belong to Walcott, for no sooner had the Arsenal
youngster broken Lee Sharpe’s record as the youngest ever England Under-21
by 102 days, than he had marked the occasion with his first goal to give
England the advantage.

Peter Taylor’s men began rather lively, knowing that they needed the win to
give them the best chance of qualification, and produced a neat passing move
that set Leighton Baines free in space on the left. The Wigan Athletic
left-back, who scored his only goal to date – a thirty yard screamer – here
against Ipswich, delivered a perfect cross for Walcott to rise and head past
Ilie Cebanu.

But the goal seemed to lift Moldova as they began to dictate the early
exchanges with the impressive midfield pairing of Igor Tigirlas and,
particularly, Alexandru Gatcan pulling the strings.

And Scott Carson, who joined Charlton on a season-long loan from Liverpool
only 24 hours earlier, was soon picking the ball from his net, but
fortunately for England, referee Aliyev ruled Gatcan’s header out for an
earlier foul.

It took the Three Lions until the closing stages of the first half to settle
down and find any rhythm as David Nugent made himself a nuisance. First, the
Preston hitman nutmegged his marker on the right before delivering a low
cross just in front of Walcott.

He then saw another cross half beaten away by the ‘keeper before Routledge’
s cross dropped just beyond him unmarked in the area.

England returned after the break looking to impose some authority on their
guests but it was Moldova who had the first chance when Igor Bugaiov and
Serghei Alexeev combined to breach the England defence. However, Baines was
on hand as cover to tidy up in front of Carson’s area.

England started to enjoy their best period, threatening Moldova’s goal on
four occasions. An Anton Ferdinand and Walcott one-two inside the box allowed
the West Ham United man space for the shot, but his drive with his weak foot
was well wide.

Tom Huddlestone then volleyed a long-range effort just over the bar, before
Steven Taylor missed a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0.

The marauding Newcastle defender laid the ball out wide to Nugent on the
right and carried his run into the box. Nugent’s low cross was spot on, but
somehow Taylor’s sliding finish from six yards evaded Cebanu and the target.

Nugent was then the recipient of a David Bentley back-heel lay-off on the
edge of the box which was just asking to be hit, but his crisp strike swerved
wide of the mark.

Then, with 15 minutes left, disaster struck. Taylor played a short pass into
the feet of Nigel Reo-Coker which gave Gatcan the chance to sneak in. The
ball fell to Bugaiov who played through to Alexeev and the 20-year-old
Tiraspol forward applied a perfect clipped finish over the advancing Carson
and in.

However, England responded within a minute to re-take the lead. Cameron
Jerome, who came on for Walcott nine minutes earlier, was the one to exploit
the space on the Moldova left. He crossed deep for Nugent at the far-post
whose powerful downward header registered his first goal in his fourth
Under-21s appearance and was no more than he deserved for his evening’s work.

But the night was to end badly for England. Three minutes from time,
substitute Alexandr Zislis replaced Bugaiov and crept in almost unnoticed for
his first touch inside the area slamming home a deft flick from Gatcan.

Next up in the group is the Moldovans home game with Switzerland on 1
September. But whatever happens there, the Three Lions will almost certainly
need all three points when they travel to Lucerne next month to qualify.

England
1 Scott Carson, 2 Leighton Baines, 3 Micah Richards, 4 Steven Taylor,
5 Anton Ferdinand, 6 Tom Huddlestone, 7 Nigel Reo-Coker (c),
8 Wayne Routledge, 9 Theo Walcott (18 Cameron Jerome, 67),
10 David Nugent, 11 David Bentley (17 Darren Ambrose, 76)
Subs not used: 12 Justin Hoyte, 13 Lee Camp, 14 Curtis Davies,
15 Ben Watson, 16 James Milner.

Coach: Peter Taylor

Moldova
1 Ilie Cebanu, 2 Vitalie Bordian, 3 Victor Golovatenco, 4 Simion Bulgaru 5
Alexandru Epureanu, 6 Sergiu Namasco, 7 Igor Tigirlas, 8 Alexandru Gatcan, 9
Igor Bugaiov (15 Alexandr Zislis, 87), 10 Serghei Alexeev, 11 Alexandr
Suvorov (16 Alexandru Onica, 64)
Subs not used: 12 Stanislav Namasco, 13 Igor Soltanici, 14 Vadim Bolohan, 17
Nicolai Rudac, 18 Andrei Secrieru.

Coach: Boris Tropanet

Referee: Vusal Aliyev
Assistants: Azad Huseynov and Aydin Alakbarov
Fourth Official: Azad Mutallimov
(All Azerbaijan)

Attendance: 13,556

TheFA.com Man of the Match: David Nugent (Preston North End)