Steve McClaren?s one hundred percent record as boss continued as England ground out a rather uninspiring victory in Macedonia.
The long legs of Peter Crouch were enough for you England home happy with the 3 points and top spot in Group E.
Until the breakthrough at the beginning of the next half, a lot of the two thousand England fans contained in the stadium will have watched with apprehension because the team entrusted to bring a bright new post-Eriksson era did not stop working a stubborn Macedonian defence fresh from a dent day victory against Estonia.
The game were only available in scrappy fashion, the opening 20 minutes a succession of free kicks whistled by an over-fussy referee.
The fact neither team could string two passes together hardly helped the sport as a spectacle.
England?s patient build-up play was greeted by the chorus of boos and jeers from your partisan home crowd who burned the flag of St George and abused black players during England?s previous visit.
England?s main attacking threat originated from Steven Gerrard.
The Liverpool skipper looks dangerous for the right hand side and contains a much greater relation to a game as opposed to ousted David Beckham.
But the largest plus for England in recent games has become the emergence of Owen Hargreaves.
The defensive midfielder continues to be a revelation in their role just before the back four.
The young Bayern Munich players runs tirelessly, splitting up opposition attacks and starting the next England have fun with a straightforward ball to 1 from the more creative players.
Unfortunately, Frank Lampard?s influence on a game generally seems to diminish each time England play.
The Chelsea man appears to have lost his way a little recently and needs a dramatic return to form to stop his invest they coming under threat.
But England look forward to the return in the the surface of an average group.
The McClaren era is well under way nevertheless the tougher tests are yet into get more info the future.
Steven Cronin writes the greatest English Premiership Football news, results and opinion at