Report: England CP 3-1 Spain

England’s cerebral palsy team kicked-off their ICFCP European Championship campaign with a 3-1 win over Spain on Friday morning.

Andy Smith’s Para Lions played their first of four group stage games in Sardinia, where a hat-trick from David Porcher was enough to secure victory against a Spanish side who made it far from easy.

The first goal arrived with just less than ten minutes on the clock when Porcher advanced from deep before his stinging left-footer proved too hot to handle for Spain ‘keeper Martin Diez at his near post.

But La Rojas hit back ten minutes later to level things up when Hector Martin de Miguel strode out of defence to run at England before powerfully firing home an eqauliser from outside the area in the 20th minute.

It looked as though the teams would be going in all square at the break, but when Para Lions captain Matt Crossen’s charging run down the right saw him cut the ball back into the box, it was perfectly placed for Porcher to tuck away his second in stoppage time.

Porcher saved his best until last though, when he gave England a two-goal lead after a darting run took him past two defenders and into the box, where he confidently slotted past Diez to make it 3-1.

There were further opportunities for England to add to their tally, but they found an in-form Diez in goal who made a number of saves to keep his team in with a hope while Giles Moore and the defence at the other end remained firm enough to rebuff any Spanish advances.

England: 1 Giles Moore, 2 Liam Irons, 3 David Porcher, 4 Sam Dewhirst, 5 Mason Dunbar, 6 Matt Crossen (c), 7 James Blackwell

Substitutes: 9 Jayden Kenyon for Dewhirst 45, 12 Matthew Robinson for Blackwell 60

Substitutes not used: 8 Harry Baker, 10 Aaron Lucas, 11 Will Ramsay, 13 Reagan McMillan, 14 Ethan Day

Head coach: Andy Smith

Goals: David Porcher (9, 30, 39)