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