Cherries loan star Jermaine Defoe helped England to a narrow 3-2 victory over Belgium in an under-18 international friendly at Bradford City's Valley Parade on Thursday.

The 18-year-old striker, who has netted four goals in three games since his move to Dean Court from West Ham, drew a rare blank for his country in front of a crowd of around 1,400.

Defoe, together with fellow strikers Jimmy Davis from Manchester United and Matthew Hamshaw from Sheffield Wednesday, were all substituted at half-time by England coach Martin Hunter.

But the teenager was on the pitch when Johnnie Jackson from Spurs equalised for England with a 25-yard free-kick to cancel out the Belgium's opener.

Among the crowd was Cherries chief scout Mike Corderoy who was asked to keep tabs on Defoe by Cherries boss Sean O'Driscoll.

Corderoy, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Echo, said: "Jermaine was certainly not out of his depth and with better service he may have had a goal. He had a couple of shots in the first half and worked his way into some good scoring situations and was lively.

"He had to contend with two big central defenders who were marking him and he was playing alone upfront. All three strikers were replaced at half-time and I think the England manager wanted to see some of the other players perform and it was not reflection on Jermaine's performance."

Second-half goals by Kevin Nolan from Bolton and Everton's Peter Clarke helped England come from behind to secure the victory.

Andrin Cooper, England under-18 press officer, said: "The coach re-organised the team at half-time and Jermaine was one of three strikers who made way. The coach wanted to look at the other options available to him in the squad."

* The draw for the second round of the FA Cup will take place on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday programme at approximately 5.35pm. It will also be broadcast live on Talk Sport.