Walcott on target for England
by Chris Stanton, 15 May 2008
England Under-21s maintained their unbeaten record this season as goals from Tom Huddlestone and Theo Walcott gave Stuart Pearce’s side a 2-0 win over Wales.
With Fabio Capello watching on at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground, Pearce named five players selected for the full squad to face USA and Trinidad & Tobago in his line-up, with Huddlestone, Walcott, Joe Hart, David Wheater and Gabriel Agbonlahor all given a friendly run out.
Wales took the game to their visitors in the first half, but still found themselves two goals adrift at the interval.
Poor defending from Wales gifted England their 19th-minute opener. Adam Johnson was felled inside the area by Neal Eardley and Huddlestone drilled home the resulting penalty.
The next England attack brought a second goal, with Walcott cutting in from the left and hitting a shot which took a deflection off Lewin Nyatanga to leave goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey stranded.
The 2-0 scoreline was a harsh reflection of the game for Wales who had a number of opportunities to score, not least when Andrew Taylor sliced a Shaun McDonald cross on to his own bar with Hart well beaten.