Nathan Trott once again started the England Under 19 UEFA Championship Group B match on the bench.
Substitute Ben Brereton’s late goal put England on the verge of securing a Semi-Final place at the UEFA U19 European Championship.
The Nottingham Forest striker pounced with five minutes to go to hand the Young Lions a thoroughly deserved victory over the Netherlands in Tbilisi.
This victory over a Dutch side who blew the Germans away 4-1 in their opening game, followed the 2-0 win over Bulgaria on Monday from Keith Downing's men.
It had been a stalled start to proceedings at a drizzly Mikheil Meskhi Stadium.
With barely a minute on the clock, Easah Suliman’s collision with Joel Piroe, hat-trick hero from that win over Germany, left the Dutchman floored in the middle of the pitch. After treatment for six minutes, the striker was eventually carried off on a stretcher wearing a neck brace and replaced by Jay-Roy Grot.
Whether or not that early blow affected the Dutch, England quickly got a grasp of this fixture that was not relinquished throughout a dominant first-half display that had everything but a goal.
With Ryan Sessegnon and Jay Dasilva a constant threat down the left, Mason Mount had an early drive from distance cleared off the line while Lukas Nmecha was denied a certain goal by Armando Obispo’s last-ditch block.
The chance of the half fell in the 24th minute when Andre Dozzell’s exceptional through ball gave Sessegnon only the goalkeeper to beat, but Justin Bijlow was swiftly alert to the danger.
The Dutch goal continued to live a charmed life after the break with Mount in particular regularly banging on the orange door. As the dominance of possession continued and the second-half minutes ticked along, frustration started to set in for the Young Lions and Grot fired a series of warning shots towards Aaron Ramsdale’s goal.
Thankfully, England got the goal their efforts deserved in the 85th minute, Brereton turning home Sessegnon’s deflected effort from close range.
Downing’s youngsters will now finish Group B against Germany at the David Petriashvili Stadium on Sunday.
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