Ebbsfleet United goalkeeper Preston Edwards plays for England C against Turkey at Princes Park, Dartford
Preston Edwards lines up for England at
Princes Park Pictures: Andy Payton
By Steve Tervet
Ebbsfleet goalkeeper Preston Edwards shone for England C on
Tuesday as the non-league select team held their own against a
powerful Turkey side in Dartford.
The 23-year-old was England’s best player in the first-half at
Princes Park as he pulled off important saves to deny Murat Duruer,
Aydin Yilmaz and Cenk Tosun.
Edwards was finally beaten by Yilmaz’s 87th-minute strike but he
emerged from the International Challenge Trophy semi-final with
huge credit.
He said: “I thought we were going to extra-time, the boys played
really well, but it’s just unfortunate that we didn’t get
through.
“There wasn’t a massive difference out there. The No10 for
them (Galatsaray’s Emre Colak), in the first 10 minutes I thought
‘wow’ but then he quietened down.
"They’re good players but we’ve got very good players as well,
so hopefully we can push on and be where they are at some stage in
our
careers.”
After diving acrobatically to deny Duruer early on, Edwards grew
in confidence. His best save was a sprawling block at the feet of
Yilmaz (pictured above left), just as the full Turkey international
looked set to break the deadlock.
Edwards had to leave his penalty area when the Turkish fans lit
a flare midway through the first-half, but the Fleet stopper seemed
to feed off the relentless noise behind his goal.
“It was brilliant,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like
that, with the Turkish fans. I got a good whiff of the flare behind
the goal and it made a great atmosphere. It was a great match to
play in.
“I
was enjoying myself. I really enjoyed my save when I made the block
on him running through, you feel big and strong and
aggressive.”
Edwards returns to club football on Saturday when Ebbsfleet host
Gateshead in Blue Square Bet Premier.
Turkish fans were in party mood during
Tuesday's game. Pic: Andy Payton
06/02/13
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