Nathaniel Clyne came on as a second half substitute on 56 minutes as England made a winning start to the European U19 Championships on a sunny Sunday evening in France. A first half brace from Frank Nouble and a second half strike from Thomas Cruise proved to be enough to defeat a spirited Austria.

England can now head into Wednesday's game with the Netherlands knowing that a win should be enough to take them through to the semi-final.

England who took the lead, perhaps slightly against the run of play, when a direct ball over the top from Matthew Briggs was only half cleared by Emir Dilaver. Nouble didn't need a second invitation and after bringing the ball under control in the box, he fired a low left-footer past Phillip Petermann and into the bottom corner.

The Young Lions didn't have to wait long for another though, and it was an almost identical goal to the opener. Briggs again chipped a pass forward and when Gernot Trauner could only stretch to flick it on, Nouble was in behind him and onto it in a flash before striking a clean shot past Petermann from what seemed an impossible angle.

England had already been warned about the dead ball ability of Alaba in the first half, but they had no answer to it in the 52nd minute as he connected perfectly with a free-kick from the right which beat Rudd and found the near corner.

John Bostock swung over a corner from the right and when Steven Caulker nodded it goalwards, it dropped nicely for Cruise who drilled it home to restore a two goal lead.

Austria still weren't finished though, and they pulled another goal back with just over 15 minutes remaining when substitute Andreas Tiffner played a pass across the area to Trauner. He made amends for his earlier mistake by smashing a low shot which arrowed perfectly into the far corner.

It wasn't to matter though, as England comfortably held on at the other end to seal a perfect start to the competition.