HOGAN Ephraim played for the whole 90 minutes but England Under-18s
suffered a 1-0 friendly defeat in Turkey.
However Coach Brian Eastick was pleased with the performance of his side. It took a fine strike just after the half-hour mark from Galatasaray's Aydin Yilmaz to separate the two sides in what Eastick described as a "closely fought match".
Following an unforced error in midfield, Turkey won a free-kick outside the area which took a deflection out for a corner. From the resulting centre, the knock-down fell kindly for Yilmaz 18-yards from goal and he drove well into the top corner of John Sullivan's net.
"It was a very good finish," said Eastick after the match, "but we are disappointed how it came about."
Despite defeat, Eastick was positive and felt that his side deserved something out of the game.
"This game was always going to be difficult playing in their back yard," Eastick added.
"Turkey are a very good footballing side and the fact they are current European Champions and reached the semi-finals of the World Championships highlights the type of opposition we were against.
"In the first 45 minutes we played some excellent football and had some very good chances that on another day we may have scored.
"After the break I made a number of changes to give all the lads some valuable match experience and neither side really managed to create any opportunities.
"But it was a pleasing performance and will hold the lads in good stead as they continue their development. Overall I think they deserved something out of it - maybe neutrals would say a draw was the fair result."
England: John Sullivan (Brighton &
HA), Mark Little (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Anthony Straker
(Crystal Palace), Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough), Leigh Mills
(Tottenham Hotspur), Michael Mancienne (c) (Chelsea), Giles Barnes
(Derby County), Fabrice Muamba (Arsenal), Ishmel Demontagnac
(Walsall), Hogan Ephraim (West Ham United), Myles Weston (Charlton
Athletic)
Subs: Chris Riley (Tottenham Hotspur), Zac Jones
(Blackburn Rovers), Elliot Omozusi (Fulham), Andrew Gooding
(Coventry City), Scott Phelan (Everton), Saheed Sankoh (Fulham),
Jamie Mullan (Manchester United)