A new era in England's long and illustrious history, began in Dublin against the Republic of Ireland. Under interim coach Lee Carsley, who has replaced Gareth Southgate, England put out a very young side, but full of talent and hopefully with exciting football to come. In front of a full house the Irish started well, closing down and forcing England to move the ball quickly. The first chance fell to the home side in the third minute, as a corner came in from Robbie Brady, the ball being half-cleared only for it to hit Jason Molumby's head before flying over the bar. Four minutes later and Harry Kane had a good chance from a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross, but the striker's header also flew over the bar.

There were several early fouls as players became used to the pace of the match, but gradually England settled the better of the two teams and they were soon controlling things. A mistake by Jack Grealish briefly created danger for England but the combination of Harry Maguire and Marc Guehi was very effective in snuffing out the threat.

A wonderful long pass by Alexander-Arnold sent the pacy Anthony Gordon clear of the defence with only goalkeeper Caoimhin (Quote from the Vicar of Dibley, ‘You Irish, you do love your vowels!’) Kelleher to beat. The keeper parried the shot but Gordon picked up the rebound and centred where Kane had a shot blocked, and this time ball fell to the incoming Declan Rice who guided a terrific shot into the top corner to give England the lead. Rice went to great pains to offer apologies to the home fans due to his previous Irish connections, stifling his celebrations, but the England fans went wild with delight.

A minute after the goal Kobbie Mainoo is booked for a foul just outside the England penalty area, but the free-kick was cleared and England attacked like an express train on breakaway, with Rice leading the charge. The ball went to Gordon and his low cross was met by Kane, only for Kelleher to save the Irish again by spreading himself well to block the shot. England were looking good in the midfield with Rice playing really well and Mainoo finding space all the time and linking well. On 25 minutes another chance fell England's way as Bukayo Saka saw a shot blocked by a defender. That was just the prelude to a wonderful second goal for the visitors.

On 26 minutes a brilliant series of one-twos between Mainoo, Rice and Saka ended with the latter playing the ball back to Grealish who swept a fine shot into the far corner of the net with Kelleher, this time, hopelessly beaten. It was a breathtaking goal and once again a former Irish player came home to haunt the home fans. Grealish, meanwhile, celebrated with great glee in front of the England contingent.

For the rest of the half England exerted total control but there were chances at both ends as Sammie Szmodics forced a full-length save from Jordan Pickford. Kane appealed for a penalty after going down in the box, and at the other end Chiedozie Ogbene sent a good ball into the box but Adam Idah failed to hit the target. That was a rare attack by the Irish as in the main they spent the rest of the half chasing shadows. On the stroke of half-time pressure by Kane and Gordon on Kelleher produced a poor clearance by the keeper. The clearance fell to Alexander-Arnold who then fed Saka. From the cross Kane was almost in but Kelleher redeemed himself by making a vital touch to clear the danger.

A fine half for England, and they started the second in the same vein. Another sweeping attack won a corner and from that it seemed a certain penalty when Maguire was manhandled over by Ogbene, but the referee and linesman saw nothing. It was so blatant by the Irishman but nothing given was the final verdict. Meanwhile, Mainoo was still finding plenty of space and he was keen to be involved with some fine link play. The triangles England played really foxed the Irish. Other attacks almost broke through, especially when Grealish and Gordon combined well. Just before the hour mark Seamus Coleman was injured and it was the time for Irish subs to come on. There was some cool defending by Guehi, who oozes class, but then in the 58th minute from a rare attack, Ogbene set up Szmodics for a chance but he shot wide when he might have done better.

For a while the game fell into a scrappy period, mainly because England were so much in control and the Irish had no answer to their opponents. One of my pet hates about modern football is the number of times danger threatens with this insistence to play out from the goalkeeper. With Pickford, the danger always comes when he passes down the middle instead of going wide, and on 63 minutes one such mistake almost ended in disaster, although the defence eventually managed to clear the ball.

Brady was booked for a cynical foul on Saka but the latter almost gained revenge after a move between Gordon, Grealish and Saka ended with the Arsenal man seeing his cross-shot cut out by Kelleher. In this spell Alexander-Arnold seemed to lose his range-finder on his usually impeccable passing, with several attempts going awry. The Irish then brought on Alan Browne as a substitute, and it made me realise, as a North End fan, that the match had seven players involved that were either ex or current Preston players. Pickford, Gordon, Molumby, Brady, Browne, and two more on the Irish bench, Callum Robinson and Troy Parrott had all had spells at Deepdale. Just thought that might interest you.

Meanwhile, back at the match, Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes were given England debuts and when Jarrod Bowen came on he was almost a two-goal hero at the end with two great efforts kept out by the overworked Kelleher. As well as that, Saka almost scored and another sub Eberechi Eze headed the rebound over.

Some outstanding performances from the England team, and the big improvement came in the positivity of the play, always looking forward rather than taking the option to go backwards all the time. That was great to see. A fine start for Mr Carsley.
   

Source Notes