Simon Church netted his first senior goal for Wales
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Simon Church relieved to get his first goal for Wales
By Matt SadlerNovember 16, 2009
Simon Church netted his first senior international goal as Wales easily beat Scotland 3-0 on Saturday.
The 20-year-old turned home Joe Ledley's cross to double the lead and his busy international week continues after being named in Bryan Flynn's Under-21 squad for their UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifier against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo on Wednesday.
The striker admitted it was a relief to get off the mark for his country.
He said: "It was nice to get it out of the way," said the striker.
"It's been playing on my mind a bit, wondering when it was going to come.
"And it was great that when I did get it, it was in Wales and at the new stadium."
"It's the best we've played in my short senior career and it marks the start of us looking forward to the next campaign.
"We had a good week training in that system, the manager drilled it into us what our jobs were and it worked really well.
"We created a lot of chances and could have had a couple more.
"Everyone felt comfortable and it was a fast tempo."
Darren O'Dea was not included in the Republic of Ireland matchday squad for their World Cup qualifying play-off defeat to France.
Ryan Bertrand impressed for England Under-21s in their 1-0 win over Portugal at Wembley Stadium.
The 20-year-old defender kept a dangerous Portugal attack at bay, helping England record a first clean sheet of their European Championships qualifying campaign.
England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce was full of praise for the on-loan left back.
He said: "Ryan had done outstandingly well on loan at Reading and it was his form there that put him into the team."
Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy was in the training squad, but was not selected for the game.
Both players will now travel to Lithuania for another qualifier tomorrow.
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