LINNETS captain, Mike Tomlinson, last week saw his dream come true when he pulled on an England shirt for the first time.

The 22-year-old, who was a late call up to Paul Fairclough's National Game XI squad, made an impressive debut in the red, white and blue against a Belgian u20s side.

Coming on as a second half substitute, Tomlinson was unable to prevent his side's 3-1 defeat but was instrumental in England's consolation goal, nodding the ball back across goal for Aldershot's Roscoe d'Sane to hammer home from close-range.

"It was brilliant. What an experience! Just pulling on the England shirt brought it home," the skipper told World Sport.

"The manager told us that we three substitutes changed the game when we came on. I think I did very well. I was happy with my performance when I came off the pitch."

The Runcorn-born PE teacher, who works in Altrincham, went on: "We all bonded really well, despite the fact we'd only spent a short time together, and we all respected the backgrounds we came from."

"The coaching set-up was totally new to me. It was really like being a pro footballer for two days. I've learned so many new defensive and attacking lessons.

He added: "Returning to the Unibond Premier League will be different but it's all football at the end of the day."

The defender will have to wait a little longer to lace up his boots again though, with Runcorn FC Halton's home fixture with Lancaster City postponed twice this week due to a frozen pitch.