MORE than 2,500 England fans turned out to watch the Young Lions at the JD Stadium and the Under-18s side did not disappoint with a classy victory over the Dutch.

Neil Dewsnip’s side contained a number of the victorious U17s squad, who beat Holland on penalties in May to claim the European title.

And they certainly looked like a good team unit, with Chelsea’s Dominic Solanke leading the line well alongside a dashing front four that contained Newcastle’s Adam Armstong, Liverpool winger Sheyi Ojo and Spurs midfielder Josh Onomah.

Yet it was a defender – Everton’s Callum Connolly – who stole the goalscoring plaudits with two tap-ins to open and close the scoring on the night.

In between, Solanke put England 2-0 up before Dutch midfielder Laros Duarte scored the goal of the night, flighting a curled shot past Newcastle stopper Freddie Woodman from the edge of the area.

Connolly’s opener just before the break was a goal made in Merseyside – the left-back pouncing on Everton team-mate Jonjoe Kenny’s knockdown following a corner from Ojo.

Solanke slotted home at the second time of asking on 56 minutes after his initial shot, following a through ball from Onomah, was parried by Dutch keeper Yanick Van Osch.

Duarte produced his moment of magic seven minutes later before Connolly put any England nerves to bed, calmly converting a pull-back from Southampton’s Josh Sims after robbing Dutch full-back Mauro Savastano on the byline.

Connolly’s second secured a well-deserved victory for Dewsnip’s side, creating another “happy memory” at Bury's home ground for the former Broad Oak school teacher.

And the sight of the Premier League’s next batch of stars strutting their stuff is sure to have whetted the appetite of an appreciative Bury crowd.

And Shakers chairman Stewart Day confirmed after the game that this could be just the start of a new era of international matches at the JD Stadium, with an U21s fixture understood to be next on the agenda.

ENGLAND U18S: Freddie Woodman; Tafari Moore, Taylor Moore, Jake Salter-Clarke (Dael Fry 63), Callum Connolly (Mandela Egbo 89); Jonjoe Kenny, Ryan Ledson; Dominic Solanke, Josh Onomah (Josh Sims 71), Sheyi Ojo (Demetri Mitchell 89), Adam Armstrong (Callum Cooke 89).

Subs: Lewis Cook, Sam Howes.

NETHERLANDS U18S: Yanick Van Osch; Julian Lelieveld (Rick Van Der Meer 75), Calvin Verdonk, Hidde Ter Avest, Mauro Savastano; Laros Duarte, Gustavo Hamer (Marlon Slabbekoorn 75); Abdelhak Nouri; Ilias Alhaft (Martjin Berden 75), Ruben De Jager (Alessio Da Cruz 57), Segun Owobowale.

Subs: Stan Van Bladeren, Kaan Karabakal, Wellington Verloo, Joris Klein-Holte.

Referee: Stephen Martin.

Attendance: 2,579.