"ENGLAND BRAINS HAD DUTCH GUESSING" Daily Mirror

ENGLAND totally outplayed Holland from start to finish in this one-sided match. The pitch was heavy and slippery after much rain had fallen and in the opening quarter the Dutch side gave a good account of themselves. Their number eight, Wilkes, caught the eye but, alas, he seemed the only man who could match the England ball players.

In the 24th minute, England took the lead and from that moment there was only ever going to be one outcome. Raich Carter and Wilf Mannion had already taken a firm grip on the game with their immaculate passing and it came as no real surprise when Tommy Lawton scored with a shot from the edge of the area. Four minutes later the same player headed a second and in the next seven minutes there were an incredible four more goals, three to England one to Holland.

First Carter notched number three before Mannion and Lawton, his own third, made it 5-0. Bergman did manage to pull one back for the visitors but just before the interval there was more drama as George Hardwick missed a penalty and then Tom Finney scored a sixth goal. Holland trooped off at half-time in a daze, not knowing which way to turn next.

The pace, quite naturally after that onslaught, slackened after the restart and much of the play was scrappy. England went through the motions for most of the half but towards the end they livened up again creating more chances. From one excellent move Carter scored his second and then Lawton scored his fourth and England's eighth. In a late rally, Smit netted a second goal for Holland but it was, in the true sense of the word, only a consolation.
    

Lawton scored four goals and might have had eight against a Dutch defence that had no answer to his all-round power. The selectors made their first change since Walter Winterbottom had taken over as manager, bringing in Blackpool skipper Harry Johnston for his England debut at left-half in place of Henry Cockburn. The Dutch held their own for the first 24 minutes on a rain-saturated pitch, and were then devastated by a six-goal storm in 20 minutes that included a Lawton hat-trick. During this spell, skipper George Hardwick missed from the penalty spot and Holland managed to pull a goal back to make it 6-1 at half-time. England took their foot off the accelerator in the second half before Raich Carter scored his second goal and Lawton his fourth. Outgunned Holland notched a late second consolation goal. Appalling weather restricted the Leeds Road attendance to 32,500. Dutch FA President Karel Lotsy told Tommy Lawton after the game: "You are the world's greatest centre-forward." Anybody who saw his amazing performance will have agreed.
  

International Football Results (27 November 1946)
Home International Championship:   Scotland 0 Ireland 0    Hampden Park, Glasgow (98,776) England were already assured of a share of the title, and a point against Scotland at Wembley, four months later, would give them their first outright championship victory since 1938.		Home International Championship Table Team P W D L F A ₧ England 2 2 0 0 10 2 4 Wales 2 1 0 1 3 4 2 Ireland 2 0 1 1 2 7 1 Scotland 2 0 1 1 1 3 1