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Page last updated at 16:04 GMT, Sunday, 28 September 2008 17:04 UK

Smith double inspires England win

Kelly Smith
England's goals came in the last 30 minutes

Kelly Smith's double helped set up a 5-1 win over the Czech Republic in Prague as England claimed a sixth win in seven Euro 2009 qualifiers.

Katerina Doskova gave the Czechs a first-half lead, before substitute Emily Westwood fired in on 61 minutes.

Smith put England ahead with a neat chip and then set up the third goal as Karen Carney headed in.

Jill Scott extended the lead before Smith completed the rout to move England to the brink of qualification.

Three points clear at the top of the group, a draw against Spain in Zamora on Thursday will be enough to take Hope Powell's team through to next year's finals in Finland.

But Powell will be hoping to see a repeat of Sunday's second-half performance rather than the stuttering display her team produced before the break, with all five of their goals coming in the final half-hour after some shoddy work earlier in the game.

Powell said: "We were very poor in the first half and I had words with the players at half-time.

"We made a few changes in the second half, the girls got back to the game plan and we were much, much better."

Looking ahead to the Spain game, Powell added: "The girls will be lifted by their second half performance and we're in the driving seat for Thursday.

"We know that a draw will be good enough to qualify for the finals, but going out for a draw isn't in my nature nor my players - we'll be going for the win."




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