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[Alex]

England C made a successful start to their defence of the International Challenge Trophy with a win in Finland.
Cambridge United's Michael Morrison put England ahead on the plastic pitch in the Finnair Stadium in the 34th minute.

Salisbury City's Matt Tubbs then added the second for Paul Fairclough's side seven minutes into the second half.

The result made it five straight wins without conceding a goal for England C, which is made up of Under-23 players from non-league football.

"If I was honest, I would have accepted a draw here," Fairclough told the FA's website.

"To get the victory is sensational, particularly when you consider that most of my lads wouldn't have ever seen such difficult conditions."

"I don't like picking out individuals for special praise, it's not my way.

"But you have to say our central midfield was quite outstanding - (Lewis) Chalmers and (Stuart) Lewis were magnificent. Everything good came through that pair."

England included six new caps in their starting line-up as they stretched their unbeaten run to 14 games in competitive fixtures.



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England: Lance Cronin (Ebbsfleet), John Brayford (Burton), Liam Brownhill (Witton), Lewis Chalmers (Aldershot), Ronnie Henry (capt) (Stevenage), Michael Morrison (Cambridge Utd), Russell Penn (Kidderminster), Stuart Lewis (Stevenage), James Constable (Kidderminster), Matt Tubbs (Salisbury), Erkan Okay (Histon).

Subs: Adam Bartlett (Blyth Spartans), Dan Gleeson (Cambridge Utd), Shaun Harrad (Burton), Nathaniel Knight-Percival (Histon), Matt Day (Oxford Utd).