He pointed to a lack of match practice for a below par opening half but the side representing England grew in stature and desire once Jack Cannon’s sublime freekick on the stroke of half-time threw them a lifeline.
Said Culkin: ‘I’m really pleased with a great second half performance from our lads. I was a bit disappointed in how we conceded the goals in the first half because it was stuff we had been worked on, but it was a good game and a learning curve for our boys – especially our younger players in preparation for San Marino.’
‘The goal just before the break gave us that little injection of life that we needed and it gave us belief so we could start the second half on the ascendancy ,’ added the manager.
Full report and analysis in Monday’s JEP
