Graham Taylor's winning sequence as England's manager continued with another hard fought win against New Zealand in the second of these commemorative games. This was by far the best performance of the three tour games so far and was all the better when one considered the awful conditions that the city of Welllington offered. A howling gales made good football very difficult, but all-in-all it was not a bad match.

Showing far more pace than in earlier games, England were soon attacking Schofield's goal. An indication of the poor conditions came when the goalkeeper's first goal-kick blew back and landed on the edge of his own area. The early pressure that England exerted paid off for the visitors when they took a 12th-minute lead. John Salako, who played well throughout, made a determined run down the right and centred low and hard. Brian Deane dummied the cross ad it left stand-in skipper Stuart Pearce the chance to lash home a fierce shot from just inside the penalty area.

Salako seemed to be involved in every English attack and her certainly looked to have that something extra that an international needs. On 21 minutes he set up David Platt for an acrobatic kick which sent the ball flashing into the net again. Unfortunately the referee had spotted an offside and the goal was ruled out. Minutes later, Ian Wright put in a wind-assisted cross which Schofield somehow scrambled around a post.

The second half was also controlled by England and only poor finishing prevented them fro running up a rugby score, and appropriate idea considering that this is the home of the famous All Blacks!

A great run by Geoff Thomas gave Dennis Wise an easy chance which he squandered and Ian Wright's following up attempt was cleared off the line by Gray. England kept up the pressure and on 50 minutes deservedly increased their lead. Full-back Gary Charles, who made a confident debut, outpaced the home defenders before driving a low cross to the near post. David Hirst controlled the ball brilliant before turning sharply to shoot under Schofield's diving body. It was an excellent goal for the substitute, who had replaced Deane at half-time.

The only threats that England had to their lead came when Charles sent a dreadful back-pass straight to McGarry. The New Zealander's shot beat Chris Woods but Des Walker saved Charles's blushes with a frantic clearance. The other chance fell to Declan Edge just after England's second goal, but he blasted the ball over the bar with only Woods to beat.

In the final seconds, another tremendous burst by Salako almost produced another goal. His run and shot was brilliant. Schofield pushed the ball on to a post and the goalkeeper watched in disbelief as Thomas, following up, somehow managed to screw his shot wide of an open goal.
    

Like his predecessor Bobby Robson, Graham Taylor reluctantly inherited a 'Down Under' tour that did little for him apart from provide some fresh scenery. An own goal five minutes before half-time gave England victory over Australia in Sydney, and an injury-time goal by Gary Lineker saved blushes in the first match against New Zealand in Auckland. A goal in each half by Stuart Pearce and David Hirst gave England a 2-0 victory in the return match in Wellington. Hirst was one of six players awarded their first caps during the tour, along with John Salako, Earl Barrett, Brian Deane, Mark Walters and Gary Charles.
   

Source Notes