Downing double gives England B victory

England B 3 Albania 1

Michael Owen may have been upstaged by Alan Smith and Stewart Downing on his England return but Steve McClaren’s star striker still did enough at Turf Moor to have his name inked in for the vital Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia on June 6.

Smith opened the scoring in a comfortable win over Albania, with Downing netting a double either side of the break.

It was Owen’s contribution that really interested McClaren though, with England’s all-time fourth top scorer completing a precious 90 minutes in his usual energetic manner that will leave his coach hoping he will be back to his best when his country really needs him in 12 days’ time.

The Newcastle forward’s best opportunity came early on, when he side-footed Aaron Lennon’s cross wide from 10 yards.

He was also close to getting on the end of a couple of crosses, although Owen’s desire to score was not desperate enough to prevent him setting up Downing’s second.

With all the Chelsea, Liverpool and – with the exception of Smith – Manchester United contingent, plus Owen Hargreaves and, just possibly, David Beckham missing from the squad McClaren will announce tomorrow lunchtime, it was fairly obvious which starters needed to impress.

Lennon was one. Unfortunately, the Tottenham winger lasted only nine minutes before he limped off with what appeared to be an ankle injury.

Lennon’s only serious involvement was the chance he provided for Owen. Under pressure from Blerim Rustemaj as he crossed, Lennon immediately signalled to the bench his night was over.

McClaren will clearly need to assess the injury but as he ponders whether to bring Beckham back overnight, the loss of one of his main wide men only makes a positive outcome more likely for the Real Madrid superstar, who must have thought his international career would remain stuck on 94 caps.

Others who lasted longer made much more impact. Gareth Barry, starting in central midfield even though McClaren is without Ashley Cole next week, certainly impressed.

The Aston Villa man showed off an excellent range of passing, was happy to run from deep and was a willing tackler too, outshining partner Jermaine Jenas.

At the back Nicky Shorey overcame a hesitant start to produce an effective display, while the same could also be said of Blackburn’s David Bentley, who ignored the unwelcome taunts of the Burnley fans in the ground to become a greater influence as the game wore on and eventually scooped the man-of-the-match prize.

As Wayne Rooney is suspended for the key qualifier in Tallinn and only Peter Crouch can be regarded as a plausible alternative among the vast number of players not here, as well as Owen, there was a lot riding on Smith’s performance too.

The hard-working Yorkshireman has not figured for his country since the final qualifier of the last World Cup campaign 19 months ago.

Smith has spent the vast majority of the intervening period recovering from those horrific leg injuries he suffered at Anfield.

After two false starts, Smith was eventually able to play a significant part in United’s title run-in, even if the Old Trafford outfit were forced to commission a special winners’ medal because he failed to reach the required 10 matches.

Smith’s strength was evident long before he put England ahead in fine style, striding on to Barry’s excellent lay-off and driving his shot into the bottom corner.

The combination with Owen was working well and within three minutes, McClaren’s men had a second, the presence of England’s senior striker bringing a mistake out of Albania keeper Arjan Beqaj, who complained long and hard after Lennon’s replacement Downing had drilled a volley straight past him.

Arguably, the most entertaining player on the pitch came from the visiting ranks in the form of wide-man Besart Berisha.

The Hamburg player had already rattled Scott Carson’s crossbar with a left-footed strike when he cut in off the wing, beat Ledley King and then smashed a right-footed shot into the net which would have had any Premiership scouts in a near-capacity crowd drooling.

Owen’s search for a goal went on but he was the supplier for England’s next with Downing supplying the neat finish.

McClaren’s men might have had more but Jermain Defoe had a shot saved late on before Owen got too firm a connection on Joleon Lescott’s low cross and hoofed it over.