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ultz clearing attempt was intercepted by Torrey Mitchell and his shot on net was once a
LONDON -- Rickie Lambert made a goal-scoring England debut at the age of 31 on Wednesday, clinching a 3-2 victory over Scotland as international footballs oldest rivals met for the first time in 14 years. Roy Halladay Jersey . After England twice came from behind through Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, Lambert produced the winner in the 70th minute, powering a header into the net four minutes after coming off the bench. "Thats what Ive been dreaming of probably all my life," Lambert said. "It means so much." The striker was called up for the first time by coach Roy Hodgson after the former beetroot factory worker capped his rise from the fourth tier to the Premier League by scoring 15 goals for Southampton last season. The goal spared England from being humbled by its neighbour in the 111th match between the sides after James Morrison and then Kenny Miller put Scotland in front. "We made life difficult for ourselves by conceding twice ... but its very satisfying to win a game like this," Hodgson said. "And even more satisfying when you get a fairytale story like (Lambert) ... hes technically a very good player and has great composure in front of goal." Yet, concerns will linger for Hodgson about the goals conceded -- the first time after goalkeeper Joe Harts blunder -- with key World Cup qualifiers coming up. England is second in its World Cup qualifying group, two points behind Montenegro with five games remaining. In September, England hosts Moldova before travelling to Ukraine. While England is in the hunt still for a spot in Brazil next year, Scotland is already out of the running to qualify for its first major tournament since 1998. Despite Scotland being ranked 36 spots below England in 50th place, that gulf wasnt always evident on the Wembley Stadium pitch as the hosts relied on a newcomer to recover the victory in a game that was a friendly in name only. "Weve come here and put on a decent performance, got two goals at Wembley," Miller said. "But unfortunately it wasnt enough to get anything." Lambert was brought off the bench to replace Wayne Rooney, who played despite being missing all of Manchester Uniteds official pre-season games and Sundays Community Shield with injuries that coincided with his failed bid to leave the Premier League champions. Although Rooney managed to get through 66 minutes he lacked match fitness and only came close to scoring in the opening minutes when he made a weak connection with Leighton Baines cross. The one position on the pitch England appeared to have resolved was between the posts, but goalkeeper Joe Hart has started to show signs of weakness in the last year and was left red-faced in the 11th minute. A corner was only half-cleared by Walcott and Morrison sent in a powerful shot that Hart let go under him after attempting to block it with his body. It took England until the 29th minute to level, with Walcott racing forward to connect with Tom Cleverleys through ball to score his first international goal at the national stadium. England, though, was sloppy at times and the complacency was exposed inside four minutes of the second half. Alan Hutton crossed from the right and Miller brought the ball down with his chest, and was left in space by Gary Cahill to lash the ball into the net on the turn. England, though, managed a quick response in the 53rd. Captain Steven Gerrard sent a free kick into the penalty area and Welbeck rose between two defenders and planted a downward header into the net. The game was livening up. Walcott and Robert Snodgrass squared up to each other, with the pushing and shoving seeing both players booked. But it was never heated in the stands as fans between the two traditional rivals stayed calm, and the authorities will be relieved that there was no evident crowd trouble. It was the rampant hooliganism in the 1980s that led to the annual matches between the cross-border rivals being cancelled in 1989, having first met in 1872. But this relatively tranquil night in the Wembley rain will be remembered for the moment Lambert rose to meet Baines corner just a couple of minutes into his first England appearance. "I was trying to play it cool as if it wasnt bothering me but deep down I wanted to scream," the former Blackpool, Macclesfield, Stockport, Rochdale and Bristol Rovers player said. "It was brilliant." Marcus Stroman Jersey . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year. Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys . Tony Parker had 33 points and nine assists and San Antonio never trailed in a resounding 116-92 victory over Portland, bullying the younger Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. EDMONTON -- Not many teams have managed to make the Buffalo Sabres look good this season, but the Edmonton Oilers found a way to do it on Thursday. Cory Conacher had two goals and an assist as the Sabres snapped a lengthy seven-game losing skid, emerging with a 3-1 victory over the Oilers in a battle between the teams with the worst records in the NHL. Drew Stafford also scored for the Sabres (20-42-8) who had been outscored 21-6 in their previous seven losses. "It was huge," Stafford said. "The way that this year has gone and the challenges we have gone through, we will take any win at this point, regardless of who it is against. That was one of our more complete efforts. "We had some discipline issues, but had a great PK. We also had more than one goal, which is big. Getting a 3-1 lead, Im not sure I can remember the last time we had a comfortable lead like that where we could lock in our system and take over the game." Sabres head coach Ted Nolan said his team earned the two points on the night as they ran their road record to just 8-22-3. "It is good to finally play a half decent game," he said. "When you lose, you get what you deserve, and we have been getting what we deserved. We werent playing very well, but tonight we got what we deserved." Conacher scored his first goal as a Sabre since being claimed on waivers from Ottawa at the trade deadline, and his first goal overall since Dec. 28. "It was refreshing," he said. "Ive already had to get the monkey off my back once before this year, and it feels like it came off again tonight. Maybe this was the game I needed to open the floodgates a bit. The most important part was getting the win, though. Taylor Hall responded for the Oilers (25-37-9) who saw a two-game winning streak end. The Oilers, now 10-5-3 in their last 18 games, are in second-last behind the Sabres. "You look at some games on the schedule and you think, oh, its going to be an easy night, but Ive learned in this league that anything can happen," Hall said. "Whether youre playing the St Louis Blues or Buffalo, you have to come in with the same mind-set. "It doesnt matter what place theyre in or anything, every game is hard and just because we lost to the team behind us doesnt mean were going to come to the rink and sulk tomorrow. As long as the work ethic is there and the battle and the compete ... as long as we have that, were proud." Oilers captain Andrew Ference said his team just didnt seem to have that second effort that has seen them come back in games of late. "Weve been able to takke the tempo of game and take control of the third period recently and we just didnt do that tonight," he said. Roberto Osuna Jersey. "Their second goal was just putting the puck to the net and it didnt seem as though we responded as well as weve had in the last two weeks. "We just lacked that extra couple of notches on the dial tonight." Little happened for the bulk of the first period, save for a spirited scrap between Edmontons Luke Gazdic and Buffalos Zenon Konopka. Edmonton had numerous chances on the power play late in the first, including posts hit by Justin Schultz and Hall, before the two connected for a man-advantage goal on Buffalo goalie Matt Hacket, who was making his first start of the season for the Sabres. Schultz made a quick pass to Hall in the centre of the right faceoff circle and he blew a one-timer past Hacket with two minutes left in the first period for his 24th goal of the season. Hacket was recently called up from Rochester of the AHL with normal goalies Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth out with injuries. The Sabres tied the game with a power-play goal of their own just before the midway point of the second period as Conacher was able to tip a Jamie McBain point shot past Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens. Buffalo took a 2-1 lead 1:09 into the third period as a soft Schultz clearing attempt was intercepted by Torrey Mitchell and his shot on net was once again tipped past Scrivens by Conacher for his second of the game and sixth of the season. The Sabres took a two-goal lead five minutes into the third as Scrivens was down and out on a rebound that came back to Stafford, who scored his fifth goal in the last seven games. Hacket made 35 saves for the victory in the Buffalo net. The Oilers play the third game of a six-game homestand on Saturday against the Calgary Flames. The Sabres play the third game of a five-game road trip on Sunday in Vancouver. Notes: It was the second of a pair of meetings between the Oilers and Sabres this season. Edmonton won the first game 3-2 on Feb. 3a In their seven losses before facing the Oilers, only two Sabres players recorded goals - Drew Stafford (four goals) and Tyler Ennis (two goals)a Hacket became the fourth goalie used by Buffalo in the last four gamesa Both teams were fairly banged up for the game. Notable absences for the Oilers included forwards Jordan Eberle (knee) and Nail Yakupov (ankle), while the Sabres were without defencemen Tyler Myers (elbow) and Alexander Sulzer (upper body) and forwards Chris Stewart (ankle) and Zemgus Girgensons (lower body). 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