Luxembourg gunned down by Eastwood

Mar 27 2008 by Phil Blanche, Western Mail

FREDDY EASTWOOD fired a clinical double as Wales extended their unbeaten run to five games at the Stade Josy Barthel.

The striker may have fallen down the pecking order at his club, but on a chilly night in Luxembourg he came in from the cold to fire a reminder to Wolves boss Mick McCarthy just what an accomplished finisher he is.

What could have been a tricky encounter for John Toshack’s side proved a comfortable run-out and gave valuable game-time to players struggling to make an impact at league level.

Toshack handed out the 27th new cap of his 31-game tenure, giving a first start to the highly-rated central defender Ashley Williams.

The 23-year-old Stockport player formed one third of a central defensive triumvirate alongside Peterborough’s Craig Morgan and Barnsley lynchpin Lewin Nyatanga.

It is a measure of how inexperienced this Welsh squad is that at the age of 19, the Tykes player has one cap for every year of his life.

The midfield at least had a more familiar look to it.

Simon Davies, whose record as captain now reads played four, drawn two, won two, lined up for his 50th cap alongside Jason Koumas and Carl Fletcher, with Jermaine Easter and Eastwood spearheading the attack.

If Williams envisaged a gentle introduction to his international career, he was given a rude awakening as early as the fourth minute.

Lewis Price, preferred instead of new recruit Boaz Myhill in goal, allowed Alphonse Leweck to chase a through ball unchallenged to the byline, where Williams had to be decisive in forcing a goal-kick.

And it was the hosts, ranked 101 places below Toshack’s side in the Fifa world listings at 152, who mustered the first shot on target five minutes later, Aurelien Joachim firing wide from outside the area.

Eastwood’s flick-on saw Neal Eardley force Wales’ first corner of the game on the quarter-hour mark, and with it, their first attempt on Jonathan Joubert’s goal.

Fletcher struck his shot well enough from 25 yards, but it was always rising.

Wales appeared happy to patiently build through the midfield with short, sharp passes, so it was a surprise when Eastwood needlessly hacked down Mario Mutsch deep in the Luxembourg half, earning a yellow card.

At least his lunge prompted a short burst of urgency from Wales.

Within a minute, Nyatanga had prodded the ball into an empty net, albeit having strayed offside from Davies’ free-kick, and Morgan was unlucky to see his downward header on goal strike Easter from eight yards.

Easter and Eastwood may have both been earning their seventh caps and share similar names, but they were enjoying contrasting fortunes up front.

The Wolves striker, still sporting a protective plaster cast on his right wrist, found himself running into cul-de-sacs and was well policed by the Luxembourg defence.

At this point, the more slight figure of Easter was proving a handful, probing and using his pace to gain space for overlapping full-backs, Eardley and Sam Ricketts.

But that all changed in the 37th minute.

A raking crossfield pass from Koumas picked out Eastwood wide and, taking a direct route into the box, he evaded a couple of half-hearted challenges before stroking the ball into the far corner.

His third goal for Wales was a visible relief for the 24-year-old, who has had to warm the bench at his club after a frustrating season.

Price had to be watchful when Mutsch fired a 35-yard free-kick on target soon after.

But the last word of the first half almost went to Eastwood as Joubert and his defence dithered before bundling the ball away.

Toshack resisted the urge to make wholesale changes at the break, keeping his fledgling back five intact.

Eastwood was left as the lone striker as the impressive Easter made way for Owain Tudur Jones as the Swansea midfielder finally made his international bow.

The 23-year-old former Bangor captain has endured a nightmare 18 months with injury and could have been forgiven for thinking his long-awaited debut would never come.

But his name has never been far from Toshack’s lips throughout his absence and he made his entrance to generous applause from the vocal Welsh contingent in the stands.

Having barely had to break sweat, Price also left the fray at the interval as California-born Myhill made his first appearance in a Welsh shirt.

But it was the rejuvenated Eastwood who made an immediate impact on the second half.

Davies showed a clean pair of heels to Eric Hoffman on the right wing and Eastwood was able to meet his low cross without breaking stride and bury it past Joubert. Had his touch not evaded him minutes later after Koumas’ clever flick, he could have been celebrating a hat-trick inside 15 minutes.

Richard Duffy replaced Eardley just after the hour for what was his 13th cap since his debut against Slovenia in 2005.

The 22-year-old full back, who has failed to break out of Portsmouth’s reserves since his move from the Swans, has seen his Welsh fortunes follow a similar path.

But, having been rescued from Fratton Park by new Coventry manager Chris Coleman, the second phase of his international career got off to a solid start.

Myhill was appreciably the busier of the two goalkeepers during the second half. A succession of hopeful, rather than menacing, deliveries into the box kept the 25-year-old on his toes as Luxembourg enjoyed more possession, especially down the left.

Morgan became the second Welshman to see yellow for a challenge on the unfortunate Mutsch.

Then Koumas was fortunate not to become the third name in referee Bjorn Kuiper’s book for a late tackle on the same player.

Predictably, with the result beyond doubt, Toshack used the final quarter of the match to give his fringe players a run-out.

David Cotterill, on loan at Sheffield United from Wigan and resplendent in orange boots, replaced the hard-working Fletcher, while Daniel Nardiello came on for Koumas.

Disjointed though the game had become, as Toshack had predicted, Luxembourg refused to give up the ghost and were almost rewarded in the 85th minute.

Substitute Joel Kitenge broke free down the left and his cross caused uncertainty between Myhill and Williams before the latter headed the ball out for a corner.

Iceland and Holland will provide sterner tests come May, but, having struggled against similarly weak opposition in San Marino last October, Wales never looked in danger of being on the end of an upset here.

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