FROM little boy lost to international striker walking tall in 147 seconds. Theo Walcott might have looked out of his depth in the England camp in Germany during the summer, but he overcame the height restrictions of his 5ft 8in frame to head a third-minute goal for the England Under-21 side at Portman Road last night. He celebrated as if he had scored in the World Cup final.

Left to watch from the sidelines by Arsenal and England since he last started a match seven months ago, for Southampton against Queens Park Rangers, the 17-year-old’s display was more rusty than regal, but he enjoyed his night more than Peter Taylor, the England Under-21 coach, whose side may need a big victory away to Switzerland next month to qualify for a European Championship play-off.

Still, Taylor was happy to extol Walcott’s virtues. “Theo did very well, it was a terrific goal,” he said. “If we had played better he would have looked better, but we kept giving the ball away. He’s an exciting player.”

David Nugent, Walcott’s strike partner, said afterwards that Walcott had seemed apprehensive in the build-up to his debut at this level despite his experience with the senior team. “He’s a bit nervous, a bit shy,” he said. “He must have been terrified in the summer with all the big stars.”

Walcott had not played any games in pre-season because of a virus and Taylor pointed to a general lack of preparation among his players as a cause of the substandard performance. “The best players were the ones who had the best pre-season,” he said.

Taylor singled out Leighton Baines for praise and it was the Wigan Athletic left back who crossed for Walcott’s opening goal. Moldova then looked more dangerous until England switched to a 4-5-1 system close to half-time, with Walcott showing his pace on the left. The visiting team levelled against the run of play through Serghei Alexeev after Steven Taylor had misplaced a pass, but Nugent immediately headed England back in front from Cameron Jerome’s centre.

Alexandr Zislis, a substitute, scored with his first touch after an error by Micah Richards three minutes from time, but it was the goal at the start of the match that will be remembered for longer.

ENGLAND UNDER-21 (4-4-2): S Carson (Charlton Athletic) — M Richards (Manchester City), S Taylor (Newcastle United), A Ferdinand (West Ham United), L Baines (Wigan Athletic) — W Routledge (Tottenham Hotspur), N Reo-Coker (West Ham United), T Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), D Bentley (Blackburn Rovers; sub: D Ambrose, Charlton Athletic, 78min) — T Walcott (Arsenal; sub: C Jerome, Birmingham City, 67), D Nugent (Preston North End). Substitutes not used: J Hoyte (Arsenal), L Camp (Derby County), C Davies (West Bromwich Albion), B Watson (Crystal Palace), J Milner (Newcastle United). Booked: Ambrose.

MOLDOVA UNDER-21 (4-4-1-1): I Cebanu — V Golovatenco, S Bulgaru, A Epureanu, V Bordian — I Tigirlas (sub: V Bolohan, 90), S Namasco, A Gatcan, A Suvorov (sub: A Onica, 64) — I Bugaiov (sub: A Zislis, 86) — S Alexeev. Booked: Gatcan.

Referee: V Aliyev (Azerbaijan).

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