Report: Poland 1-5 England Elite League Squad

England men’s Elite League Squad kicked off their double-header this camp with a dominant 5-1 win over Poland. 

A hat-trick from Dane Scarlett led an impressive second-half charge at the Bialystok City Stadium. 

In a first half of few chances, England’s patience was rewarded when Tom Fellows’ neat layoff invited Tim Iroegbunam to thump the game into life just before the break. 

They picked up where they left off after the interval. It took just two minutes following the restart for Fellows to pounce on a loose pass and send Scarlett skipping past the rest of the defence to finish well.

With Ben Futcher’s side surging with confidence, it took less than ten minutes for a third goal to arrive. Adam Wharton’s dummy fooled the Polish defence and left Scarlett with space to strike home his second. 

The hat-trick soon followed when England were awarded a penalty after Jadel Katongo’s powerful effort was stopped by the arm of Bartłomiej Smolarczyk. The resulting spot-kick was calmly swept into the bottom right by the Tottenham youngster.

Poland produced a consolation goal when a pinball of shots was finally converted by Jan Žuberek.  

England continued to pressurise Poland until the end, as a flurry of substitutes looked lively. A trio of them combined for their side’s fifth; Luke Chambers’ cross was flicked on by Alfie Devine and finished off by Ben Nelson. 

The Young Lions next head to the Mestsky Stadium to face Czechia on Tuesday (2pm GMT) to round off their travels.

England: 1 James Beadle (Sheffield Wednesday, loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), 2 Jadel Kotongo (Peterborough United, loan from Manchester City), 3 Lewis Hall (Newcastle United, loan from Chelsea), 4 Tim Ireogbunam (Aston Villa), 5 Ronnie Edwards (Peterborough United) ©, 6 Nelson Abbey (Olympiacos), 7 Tom Fellows (West Bromwich Albion), 8 Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), 9 Dane Scarlett (Tottenham Hotspur), 10 Lewis Miley (Newcastle United), 11 Micah Hamilton (Manchester City)

Substitutes: 18 Bobby Clark (Liverpool) for Wharton 56, 19 Ben Nelson (Leicester) for Edwards 72, 14 Ollie Arblaster (Sheffield United) for Miley 72, 17 Martial Godo (Wigan) for Fellows 72, 21 Luke Chambers (Liverpool) for Hall 78, 16 Alfie Devine (Plymouth Argyle) for Iroegbunam 78, 13 Tommy Simkin (Forest Green Rovers, loan from Stoke City) for Beadle 78, 20 Kaide Gordan for Hamilton 78

Substitutes not used: Ashley Phillips (Plymouth Argyle, loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Divin Mubama (West Ham)

Head coach: Ben Futcher

Goals: Tim Iroegbunam 40, Dane Scarlett 47, 52, 70, Ben Nelson 86