England set themselves up for title
In front of 711, the biggest attendance of the tournament so far, Wales crashed to a 2-0 defeat to England at Merthyr Tydfil.
Paul Fairclough's men now just need a point in the final game against Scotland on Saturday to secure the championship after tonight's victory on a slippy pitch, not helped by the driving rain that continued to fall throughout proceedings.
Both sides were unchanged from their opening matches, England dominated the opening half and it was down to Tony James' marshalling of the Welsh back-line, he was Welsh captain, that ensured the scoreline was only 1-0 at the break. Darren Way had opened the scoring after sixteen minutes as he fired home from twelve yards after both Kirk Jackson and Terry Skiverton had failed to find the target. Wales' first chance came six minutes from the end of the half, when Chester City's Ben Davies had a twenty-five yard shot pushed around the post.
After the restart, Wales came close to equalising when Graham Evans struck the post from outside the box, and forced Chris Weale into another superb save from long range after sixty-four minutes. Michael Rose played well for England in both his defensive and attacking roles, as did Paul Parry for Wales. He created plenty from the left channel and on occasions came back to defend as the Welsh were pressurised throughout.
England confirmed their victory with sixteen minutes to go when Roscoe D'Sane equalised from the penalty spot, and despite Wales pushing forward, they couldn't break down the English back-line.
ENGLAND: Chris Weale (goalkeeper - Yeovil Town); John Kennedy (Canvey Island); Scott Guyett (captain - Chester City); Terry Skiverton (off, 71 minutes), Lee Johnson, Darren Way (off, 80 minutes), Kirk Jackson (all Yeovil Town); Michael Rose (Hereford United); Stewart Drummond (Morecambe); Lee Elam (Halifax Town); Roscoe D'Sane (Aldershot Town, off, 90 minutes). Subs: Matt Baker (Hereford United); Jon Boardman (Woking); Wayne Hatswell (Chester City, on, 71 minutes); Tristam Whitman (Doncaster Rovers, on 90 minutes); Paul Terry (Dagenham & Redbridge, on, 80 minutes); Junior Agogo (Barnet; Richard Norris (Northwich Victoria).
WALES: Tony Pennock (goalkeeper - Farnborough Town); Lee Phillips, Gary Lloyd (captain) and Lee Jarman (all Barry Town); Tony James (captain, off, 80 minutes), Paul Parry (both Hereford United); Steve Evans (TNS); Ben Davies (Chester City); Peter Smith (Telford United, off 61 minutes); Graham Evans (Caersws); Ricky Evans (Bangor City, off, 61 minutes). Subs: Gary Shepherd, Nathan Davies, Andrew Thomas (on, 80 minutes)(all Newport County); Kevin Evans (Merthyr Tydfil, on, 61 minutes); Bari Morgan; Lee Kendal (Haverfordwest County), Mark Dodds (Port Talbot Athletic, on, 61 minutes).
In the night's other match, Scotland beat Ireland 4-3, and could have made it five had they not missed a penalty. Both sides had a player sent off in the game.
NB - the attendance for the Wales vs Scotland match at Carmarthen Town on Tuesday was 450.