Derbyshire scales peak but it's tough for England

However, the coach was left as mystified as the 20,022 supporters at Leicester's Walkers Stadium over how his team did not manage the avalanche of goals their enterprising approach play deserved.

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Top spot in a five country group that also includes Portugal, surprise 1-0 losers in Bulgaria last night, and the Republic of Ireland, who England visit on Tuesday, had to suffice.

But it is to be hoped that an evening of chances spurned does not prove costly should qualification for the 2009 finals come down to goal difference.

Displaying verve and fluidity in abundance, Pearce's young charges opened up a static Montenegro defence at will and their performance ought to be viewed as cause for optimism.

England might have opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Newcastle's Steven Taylor eased himself into space at the far post but his header from a Tom Huddlestone corner clipped the post.

The rebound fell at the feet of James Milner, who skewed his effort across the area with the goal gaping.

England's aerial dominance was again evident when Derbyshire rose between two defenders but his header bounced kindly into the arms of Montenegro goalkeeper Ivan Janjusevic.

No matter. The most impressive aspect of England's early play was the freedom of movement afforded them by a fluent system in which the two wide midfielders, Milner and Theo Walcott, roamed infield whenever they could.

Derbyshire and Gabriel Agbonlahor took to the flanks with equal relish, leaving the Montenegro defenders unsure whether to mark men or zones.

Unfortunately for them, they were doing neither when Milner drifted into central midfield to slide the ball through for Derbyshire to score in the 20th minute.

Five minutes later, it was Agbonlahor's turn to find himself with the ball ahead of the last defender.

Hesitation caused by an initial disbelief that no offside flag had been raised cost him dearly and what ought to have been a clear shot on goal ended up as a misplaced pass.

If the wait for a second goal was a source of minor frustration, the injury which caused Andrew Surman to limp off on the half-hour was more worrying.

Another header from Taylor looped high over the bar before Agbonlahor and Milner were denied in quick succession by Predrag Brnovic.

The midfielder threw himself into the path of a shot by Agbonlahor, but was then flattened by a 25-yard piledriver from Milner that appeared to be arrowing towards the top corner.

The pattern of wastefulness continued early in the second half, although Derbyshire was fortunate that an offside flag was wrongly raised to spare his embarrassment after scooping the ball wide from six yards after Agbonlahor had set him up for a tap-in.

Meanwhile, Walcott and Milner continued their mazy dribbling, while substitute Fabrice Muamba was desperately unlucky with a towering header which thudded against the bar and bounced down within a foot of the line before being hacked to safety.

Montenegro were by now sniffing the possibility of an unlikely point. If their attacks still petered out before England goalkeeper Joe Hart was required to dirty his gloves, the visitors were at least committing more men forwards.

The clearer opportunities kept arriving at the other end but after Agbonlahor and Derbyshire sent late efforts off target, they had to be content with the tightest of scores.

ENGLAND (4-4-2): Hart 6; Cranie 6, S Taylor 7, Onouha 6, A Taylor 7; Milner 9, Huddlestone 5, Surman 7 (Muamba 30min, 6), Walcott 8; Derbyshire 8 (Jerome 79), Agbonlahor 8 (Kightly 83).

MONTENEGRO (4-5-1): Janjusevic 5; Radovic 6, Novakovic 5, Fatic 5, Igumanovic 6; Tiodorovic 6 (Zvicer 90), Boskovic 6 (Adrovic 87), Brnovic 8, Vidovic 6, Cetkovic 7 (Vujovic 74, 6); Jovetic 4. Booked: Radovic. Man of the match: James Milner. Referee: Anders Hermansen (Den).