Rickie Lambert scored with his first touch in international football as England twice came from behind to see off Scotland after a breathless encounter at Wembley.

The 31-year-old Southampton striker headed home England’s winner just three minutes after replacing Wayne Rooney, to spare manager Roy Hodgson’s blushes on a night when Scotland twice threatened to cause a huge upset.

Lambert’s thunderous header from Leighton Baines’ 70th-minute corner capped a fairytale debut for a striker who played for numerous lower-league sides and had to wait until his 30th birthday to play in English football’s top flight.

But for Lambert’s intervention, Hodgson may have faced some tough questions. Scotland twice took the lead as first James Morrison and then Kenny Miller took advantage of a goalkeeping error and sloppy defending respectively, before they were pegged back by goals from Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, to set the stage for Lambert’s decisive header.

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England 3-2 Scotland: Rickie Lambert reflects on dream debut

At the final whistle, all 80,000 supporters at Wembley rose to applaud after the oldest international rivals had traded blows for the first time for 14 years, in a friendly match set-up as part of the Football Association’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

From an England standpoint, this may not have been the convincing victory that Hodgson wanted ahead of key World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine early next month, but this was as exhaustive an examination as he could have hoped for.

The contest was committed and competitive. There were encouraging signs from the midfield trio of Tom Cleverley, Jack Wilshere and Steven Gerrard, while the flair and fortitude of Welbeck and Lambert will have offered encouragement ahead of four matches that will decide whether England go to next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

Even in defeat, Scotland were impressive and this performance will add to their growing optimism under the leadership of Gordon Strachan. The performances of Morrison and James Forrest caught the eye, while Scott Brown led with a calm assurance.

The build-up had been dominated by Wayne Rooney and the uncertainty around his future at Manchester United. With the exception of a 45-minute appearance in a behind-closed-doors practice game against Real Betis 10 days ago, this was his first meaningful run-out since he scored in England’s 2-2 draw against Brazil on 2 June. But this was not to be his night.

The 27-year-old striker was wrongly ruled offside on the stroke of half-time, as he latched on to Steven Gerrard’s pass and fired in. Rooney looked a footballer desperate to prove a point – demanding the ball, launching himself into challenges and shooting on sight. He left the field to a standing ovation from the England fans, but it was his replacement who would steal the headlines.

It had been Rooney who had England’s first chance, when he flicked Baines’ fizzing low cross wide. But it was Scotland who landed the first blow.

Miller’s tireless running won a corner, which was cleared only as far as West Brom midfielder Morrison, who unleashed a fearsome shot through a crowd of English defenders – one that crept beyond Manchester City goalkeeper Hart, who should have done much better.

Scotland redoubled their efforts and Grant Hanley suffered a head injury as he attempted to keep England at bay. With the Blackburn defender temporarily off the field receiving treatment, England equalised with the first half’s single moment of brilliance.

Cleverley released Walcott down the right with a delightful pass. The Arsenal forward raced into the area, cut inside Steven Whittaker and prodded a left-foot shot beyond McGregor.

Scotland found new purpose as the second half began, and were soon back in front. Miller gathered Alan Hutton’s clever cross and lost Gary Cahill with a drop of the shoulder, before turning on to his left foot and drilling a shot beyond Hart.

England had to respond quickly and they did. Gerrard whipped a free-kick into the penalty area, where Welbeck rose above Martin to head forcefully beyond McGregor.

Hodgson’s side took control after that, and the pressure told. Leighton Baines curled a corner into the danger area, where Lambert, on as a substitute just two minutes earlier, thundered a header into the net.

(bbc football )

The fans’ group seeking control of administration-hit Hearts have outlined their plan to buy the club.

Foundation of Hearts (FoH) were given preferred bidder status for the ailing Tynecastle outfit last week.

And they aim to use capital raised by the Edinburgh business community to complete the purchase via a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

That money will eventually be paid back by contributions from supporters to deliver fan ownership.

Ian Murray MP, chairman of FoH, said that they had already received 6,700 pledges, worth between £10 and £500 per month, from supporters.

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Interview – Foundation of Hearts chair Ian Murray MP

FoH say those contributing will have an immediate influence in the running of the club should the deal go through, with the full transition of ownership predicted to take between three and five years.

Of the funding from local business interests, Murray explained: “They are all Hearts fans and they are all doing this for no absolutely financial gain.

“They are putting in the money to buy the club, which is essentially to deliver a CVA.

“And it will be given back to the fans over a period of time using the pledges that come in.

“We were always requiring a capital sum and this is the strongest way to do that.

“This gives us the opportunity to purchase the club via a CVA route and also gives us the help of some tremendously experienced businessmen.”

Hearts entered administration in June and BDO, which has taken over the running of the club, revealed last month that club debts amount to £28.4m.

Any deal to exit administration via a CVA must be agreed with the major creditors of the club, with Murray saying: “We will only bid what we can afford and what we think is realistic”.

Joint-administrator Trevor Birch of BDO warned “there is still some way to go” before adding “we will work with FOH to ensure that the bid produces an acceptable CVA for the creditors”.

“At the moment we cannot put a timescale on the process as a number of negotiations with various parties still need to take place and we are waiting for the appointment of administrators to UBIG (Hearts’ parent company) to be ratified,” said Birch.

“However, we can ensure that collectively we make as much progress as possible on our side so we are able to finalise the matter quickly once the opportunity presents itself.”

The Lithuanian investment firm owns 50% of Hearts shares and, until the courts make a decision on the proposed liquidation of the company, no sale of Hearts can be completed.

Lithuanian bank Ukio Bankas, itself in administration, is Hearts’ other main creditor.

The Edinburgh side started the season with a 15-point deduction, a penalty for entering administration, but have managed to pick up four points in their opening three Premiership games.

(bbc football )