THE "B" stands for the Boys England need Theirs was a fine, heart-warming performance at Maine-road, Manchester, last night, when they were really hammered home their superiority over a tough, skilful, swift moving Jugoslav team.
Remembering that their opponents' reputation is second to none among the "B" teams of Europe, this win was certainly something to get steamed up about. It emphasised once again the superlative Soccer quality of Johnny Haynes, who was just as much the guiding genius in attack as he had been against Denmark's under-23s. It also put his Fulham team-mate, Bedford Jezzard, once again on the international map; and marked down Bristol City's John Atyeo as the kind of goal-getter who should find a place in England's senior side. Quite a night, in fact, for the boys of the Second Division.
A two goal lead at half-time was no more than we deserved, even if the icy blasts did blow in England's favour. In fact, it was the kind of gusty wind that what was of no permanent value. You just didn't know when it was coming. We went in front after 29 minutes through John Atyeo, who swivelled with amazing agility, for one so heftily built, to hook a volley past the goalkeeper. The chance came from a Vic Groves corner-kick, and it was Bill Perry who glanced the ball with his head in Atyeo's line of fire. Twelve minutes later Jezzard smashed home a beauty from beyond the corner of the penalty box, after Haynes had touched the ball on with perfect precision. Between times we had seen much bright, speedy football from both sides; and, believe me, England found their rivals no easy meat.
  There was no lack of enthusiasm for the tackle about this Continental side. They made our boys fight for every ball and brought the best out of England's half-back line.
I thought Joe Kennedy handled the mid-field raids of Amcic and Conc with magnificently cool efficiency. On either side of him Johnny Wheeler and Ron Clayton worked tirelessly; and all three made up adequately for some of the deficiencies at full-back, where both Tommy McGhee and Jim Langley occasionally got tied up against the speedy Jugoslav wingers.
But no doubt about it, the boys who gave the top-notch outlook to the England attack were Haynes and Atyeo. Their performances spelled high hopes for the future in that their contrasting styles were blended to near perfection. Haynes roamed ceaselessly to find the ball in the open space and set his line alight with canny passes. Atyeo teamed up with Jezzard in a double spearhead, and was in fact, because of the tremendous power and speed of his goalward rushes, often more of a menace than the centre-forward. The Jugoslavs had obviously heard all about the estimated monetary value of Vic Groves and the danger thrusts of Bill Perry. Their backs close-marked both flank men and cut down their usefulness of a result. But they paid for this over-concentration with scanty midfield coverage.
Goalkeeper Baynham came well out of some goal-front scrambles in the second half, and was agile and sure in his handling of anything in the air. The Jugoslav attack, fairly subdued before the interval, came much more into the swim in the second half; but some of their better moves were ruined by sky-high shooting. Outside-right Lipusinovic, who scored four goals against Germany "B" recently, was always a potential source of danger, but Clayton continued to back up Langley with fine appraisal of the more difficult situations.
  I must say I took an extremely good view of the Blackburn left-half last night.
Midway through the second half came the electric burst from England that really settled the Europeans. Two goals in less than half a minute. It was enough to rock any visiting side. Johnny Haynes was right in it again. He weaved out to the left before turning with agile skill to cross a ball that Jezzard headed expertly just inside the post. Straight from the restart Groves inside to flick a ball on to Perry, and Blackpool's South African cracked it smartly home. Jugoslavia hit back with a picture goal from inside-left Prljicevic, but before the finish Perry scored a fifth goal for England after Jezzard had crossed the ball from near the right-corner flag.
   

Yugoslavia's 'B' team came to play this match at Manchester (Maine Road) on October 19th with a big reputation, having previously beaten Germany 'B' by 8-0. But England's young forwards gave a most encouraging display, and a 2-0 lead at half-time was thoroughly deserved. Wing-halves Clayton and Wheeler helped England well on top in the second half, and it was clear from this match that our full international team had plenty of good reserve material available if and when it was required. The scorers were Atyeo, Jezzard (2), and Perry (2).