With The Royals not in action this weekend due to the Internationals, the 1871Royals Team were lucky enough to secure tickets to see England take on Wales at the Millennium Stadium in a World Cup Qualifier.

Arriving in Cardiff early afternoon on Friday and dropping off our bags in our hotel on the outskirts of the City we spent the evening taking in the delights of Cardiff...the Walkabout bar! and after a few shandys and being chucked out at closing time it was time to get a good nights sleep before the big day.

After heading back into the Town Centre on Saturday we headed for the 'England Village' that had been set up after consultation between Welsh Police and The FA in an attempt to minimise and trouble between the two sets of supporters.

As the clock struck 2pm it was time to make our way to the Stadium, and what a stadium it is. It was my first visit as I was unable to make Reading's Play-Off defeat there against Walsall.

England fans were located in the corner occupying all three tiers. There were also plenty of away supporters in the Wales end after the Welsh struggled to sell out their allocation of tickets, although the game was eventually a sell out.

As to the game, it was certainly no spectacle although England were more then in control for large parts of the game. It seemed England could have stepped up a few gears but instead decided to play in quite a relaxed fashion.

Although England dominated it was John Toshack's Welsh outfit who came so close to taking the lead. John Hartson got his head on a Sam Ricketts cross but the Celtic forward's header was superbly saved by Paul Robinson.

Wayne Rooney could and maybe should have given England the lead in the first 45 minutes. After good work between the England frontman and Steven Gerrard, Rooney was one-on-one with Danny Coyne but Coyne did well to parry Rooney's shot and save the rebound from Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The second half followed a similar pattern but England got the decisive goal early on. Man of the match, Beckham played a perfect long ball to Wright-Phillips and the Chelsea winger's cross to fellow Chelsea team mate Joe Cole was finished off by Cole via a deflection.

Wales rarely threatened Paul Robinson and England hung on to stay on track to finish top of their group. Next stop for England is an away game against Northern Ireland on Wednesday.

Make sure to check out our Exclusive pictures from Cardiff, Click Here to see all the pictures. (Page will open in new window)