England brought Ireland back down to earth with a thud as they completely outplayed Brian Kerr's latest batch of under-18s in a 5-0 victory at Tolka Park last night.
The match was in preparation for next month's UEFA Championship qualifying tournament and on the evidence of this Kerr has much work to do.
Despite the presence of five of the European Championship winning side from Cyprus, Ireland were scarcely a match for a very mobile, skilful and well-organised England who won the game with ease after building up a 3-0 half-time lead.
Ireland, noticeably smaller physically than England, began confidently and should have been in front after four minutes.
Paul Knight found Richie Partridge out on the left, but his shot was directed straight at Stuart Taylor who parried well before the danger was cleared.
England, who unlike the side that beat Ireland in Cyprus passed the ball and broke with pace, then got a firm grip on the game and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 17th minute.
The impressive right-sided midfielder Luke Chadwick broke quickly up the right, skipping past the challenge of John Frost in the process. His cross was then neatly laid off by Darius Vassell for Jamie Milligan to shoot past Dean Delaney.
It got worse for Ireland when impressive England scored again seven minutes later. Again, Chadwick did the initial damage up the right to cross. Irish skipper Gary Doherty's clearance ran only as far as Stephen Gerrard who hit a volley into the net from 16 yards.
Ireland, clearly struggling, almost pulled a goal back from their second corner of the game in the 34th minute; Partridge's cross was scrambled away at the near post by Woodgate after Graham Barrett rose to challenge Taylor.
England then all but sealed a surprisingly comfortable win with a third goal eight minutes before halftime. Chadwick once more did the damage, collecting Richard Wellens ball to beat Doherty and cross to give Darius Vassell a simple tap-in.
Both sides made a host of changes at half-time, though it scarcely made a difference.
Crossley, who curled a 25-yard free-kick just over the top on 66 minutes, registered Ireland's only chance as they continued to struggle to get into the game.
England, though, stepped up a gear and Vassell got his second after a surging run in the 72nd minute before the £4 million-rated Matthews Etherington set up Francis Jeffers for their fifth goal 11 minutes from the end.
Republic Of Ireland: Delaney (Everton); Geary (Sheffield Wednesday), Gavin (Middlesbrough), Doherty (Luton), Frost (Waterford); Crossley (Celtic), Shields (Peterborough), Healy (Celtic), Partridge (Liverpool); Barrett (Arsenal), Knight (Newcastle). Subs: P Murphy (Blackburn), O'Halloran (Cork City), Byrne (West Ham), Fitzpatrick (Motherwell), Baker (Shelbourne) for Frost, Healy, Knight, Barrett and Shields (all at halftime), Andrews (Wolves) for O'Halloran (inj 62 mins), Ryan (Brighton) for Byrne (83 mins).
England: Taylor (Arsenal); D Wright (Crewe), Woodgate (Leeds), S Wright (LIverpool), Naylor (Wolves); Chadwick (Manchester Utd), Garrard (Liverpool), Wellens (Manchester Utd), Mulligan (Everton), Bridge (Southampton); Vassell (Aston Villa). Subs: Ghent (Aston Villa), Jeffers (Everton), Woodhouse (Sheffield Utd), Roche (Manchester Utd), Riggott (Derby), Oliver (West Brom), Russell (Norwich) for Taylor, D Wright, Naylor, Wellens, Woodgate, Gerrard, Milligan (all at halftime), Etherington (Peterborough) for Bridge (61 mins).
Referee: J McDermott (Dublin)
