England edge 'family' feud in home from home

16 June 2016 15:53

The 'band of brothers', as Roy Hodgson had called them, had waited 137 years to take their family feud onto a foreign field.

But when England and Wales arrived in a tiny corner of northern France they found a backdrop that could have been anywhere back home for a fixture which began at London's Kennington Oval in 1879.

Lens had been criticised as the choice of venue for the first meeting between British sides at a major tournament since Euro '96 - England-Wales falling one day past the 20th anniversary of Paul Gascoigne sinking Scotland with a Wembley wonder.

The town's infrastructure supporting a population of 36,000 - around the same number as Bury St Edmunds and Pontypridd and 2,000 fewer than the capacity of Stade Bollaert-Delelis - was inadequate for staging such a major sporting event.

But there could not have been a more familiar feel to the morning welcome: driving rain, a British-type boxed stadium and the legacy of a coal mining past dotted all around, which resembled any pit town in south Yorkshire or south Wales.

On to this stage strode two teams with different back stories, yet united in their long history and divided by the sort of pre-match name calling which would not have looked out of place in the school yard.

Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, the best player from the two starting line-ups, annoyed England claiming they could not match Wales for pride and passion and that they "big themselves up before they've done anything".

England boss Hodgson responded by calling Bale's comments "disrespectful" and players from both camps said they had the better team.

My brother is bigger than your brother kind of stuff, you could almost say.

But the spat showed where the two squads were after the first round of results; Bale delivering his comments with a smile after Wales marked their Euros debut by beating Slovakia, Hodgson tetchy in response after Russia's last-gasp equaliser denied them three points in Marseille.

By the time of his pre-match press conference Hodgson was clearly fed up with the focus on Bale and his remarks.

Not so in Bala where the Welsh town renamed itself Bale for the day.

But, as Hodgson said, talk is cheap and when it comes to football it is all about those "90 or 95 minutes on the pitch".

The problem for Hodgson is that he has not had many of those at major tournaments in his four years in charge of England, having failed to win any of his previous five games.

If Hodgson was a man under pressure, Wales manager Chris Coleman was showing the signs of a man without a care in the world.

And why should he? At a major tournament for the first time in 58 years, Wales were enjoying the party and Coleman knows his best team and formation.

Hodgson had to come up with his in Lens and in the end settled on the same side which had drawn with Russia, skipper Wayne Rooney again deployed in a midfield role.

Rooney saw plenty of the ball, Bale little, as England settled into a pattern of possession without huge penetration.

Raheem Sterling, Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling all had chances, Harry Kane - cleared of corner duties - claimed a penalty when his header struck the arm of Ben Davies.

Then came the moment the whole of Wales had waited for: Bale lining up a free-kick from fully 35 yards.

Bale's reputation appeared to spook Joe Hart, who should have thrown his cap on it rather than push the ball into the corner of the net - but it was still Wales' first goal in this fixture for 32 years.

Hodgson's neck was on the line and he sent on Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge on at half-time.

The move paid off within 10 minutes of the re-start as Vardy bundled home from close range to start an England party finished off by fellow sub Sturridge in the final moments.

Wales' 2-1 defeat at the death was painful, but they will take strength from the fact they can still qualify.

But, for now, the sun is shining on England after replacing Wales as Group B leaders.

Fitting, maybe, that the rain in Lens had long stopped.

Source: PA