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A delightful back-heel from Gabriel Agbonlahor gave England Under-21's a 3-2 European Championship play-off, first-leg win over Wales in Cardiff.

The Aston Villa striker turned a low cross from club team-mate James Milner past Owain fon Williams in the Wales goal to seal a close victory against Brian Flynn's relative unknowns.

The match had been even until that moment, with England's Premier League stars struggling at times to keep with a determined and sprightly Wales side led by Arsenal starlet Aaron Ramsey.

Wales had never previously scored against England at Under-21 level, but they had two by the break thanks to opportunistic poaching by Reading youngster Simon Church and quite unintentional comedy from Newcastle centre-half Steven Taylor.

Church put Wales in front on 13 minutes when, after a good slide tackle by Michael Mancienne, Taylor inadvertently gave the ball back to Church, who made no mistake when he placed it low past Joe Hart into the right corner.

England looked sluggish and disorganised, partly because both full-backs - Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara and Middlesbrough stopper David Wheater - were playing out of position, and partly because Wales snapped at their heels for every ball.

They did equalise soon afterwards though, when an 18th-minute O'Hara corner found Wheater at the far post. The strapping defender rose above his marker and, while his header was weak, it still somehow breezed past Fon Williams and the two defenders on the goal-line.

The leveller woke Stuart Pearce's men up, and for most of the following 30 minutes they bossed Wales, technically and physically.

Agbonlahor should have opened his account for the evening, but saw one effort rattle the crossbar and another spin embarrassingly wide.

England took the lead on 35 minutes when Mark Noble slid a superb diagonal ball to Adam Johnson who controlled neatly, cut inside and drilled a low shot into the bottom right corner.

Wales were not totally out of it, though. Shaun MacDonald worked well with stand-out man Ramsey, and the Swansea midfielder worked a few half-chances that flew wide and over respectively.

The hosts even equalised when, just before half-time, Ramsey's cute through ball was controlled by Church. He had everything to do, but Taylor gave him a helping hand by slipping to allow an identical finish to the opener.

England came out with vigour after the break and, while Wales threatened on the counter, the visitors stretched the game and created more chances.

Agbonlahor's cheeky goal just after the hour mark gave his side some breathing space and they dominated possession, forcing Wales to run themselves into the ground.

Pearce's charges started to play with confidence and guile. Milner and Noble forced two good saves from Fon Williams, while Frazier Campbell narrowly missed to connect with what would have been an open goal when he was found unmarked by Milner's right-wing cross.

Wales had some late chances to equalise, with Jack Collison sending a long-range shot inches over and Hart forced to punch one cross away through a crowd of bodies.

But England held on for a win that edges them closer to the summer's finals in Sweden.

The return leg is on Tuesday October 14 at Villa Park, Birmingham.

Reda Maher / Eurosport