AT LEAST England are on their way. Glenn Hoddle's term of office might have begun a trifle nervously in the Republican Stadium yesterday as his team worked out the new coach's plan of action, but England's coming habits of Euro 96 did not desert them.
Moldova, clever going forward but defensively naive, were beaten comfortably enough as England stole a late summer's march on their World Cup rivals.
Two quick goals in the first half, from Nick Barmby and Paul Gascoigne, gave England an unshakeable grip on the match and a third, from Alan Shearer, the country's 100th captain, just past the hour, confirmed their mounting superiority.
Matthew Le Tissier made a brief entrance near the end as England completed a warm evening's work in this quiet, leafy glade in the hinterland of world football which ended with an echo of the European Championship as the opposition missed a penalty.
Still, something will have to be done at the back before England encounter Poland, Georgia and Italy. Lacking the authority of Tony Adams, Hoddle's remodelled defence looked ill at ease and at odds with itself early in the game. But once Paul Ince had gained a grip of the midfield, setting up a base for England's attacks, the pressure on those behind him was eased.
Nevertheless England never really appeared sure of themselves when Moldova ran at them with the ball. Partly through expediency but as much by design, Hoddle's England team bore a distinctly different shape to its immediate predecessor.
Adams apart, the backbone had survived Seaman, Southgate. Ince, Gascoigne and Shearer were still there. But now Gary Neville and the newly capped Andy Hinchcliffe were England's wing backs, whereas Venables had preferred to use forwards in wide positions.
Thus Hoddle wasted no time carrying out his declared intention of basing England on the tactical patterns he had employed at Chelsea. In addition, his selection of 21 year old David Beckham, the other new cap, fulfilled the coach's promise to give youth an early chance. Certainly the Manchester United youngster looked worth another chance.
Yet all plans need time to bed down and ideally Hoddle would have liked a friendly match before; he had to think about the World Cup. The truth of this became uncomfortably apparent during the opening 20 minutes as England's defenders struggled to come to terms with the new script.
Fortunately for England, the opposition's finishing was as unreliable as their approach was imaginative. Their best chance of taking the lead came on the quarter hour when Testimitamu lobbed the ball over the defence to leave Mitcrev and Popovici clear with only Seaman barring the way. But first one, then the other, saw weak shots palmed down by the England goalkeeper.
Once England began to gather attacking momentum the vulnerability of the Moldovan defence in the air was soon apparent. It was not entirely surprising therefore when England scored in the 24th and 26th minutes of the first half.
For the first, Neville's steep centre dropped behind Shearer for Barmby to meet the ball with a sharp first time shot low into the near corner of the net. The simplicity of the goal gave England much encouragement and Moldova considerable angst. Two minutes later Ince waved a boot at Barmby's cross, risking being penalised for raising a foot to the goalkeeper. But the referee allowed the challenge and after the ball had spun up off Ince's toe cap Gasgoigne nodded it in under the crossbar.
Shearer's now habitual goal for England followed in the 61st minute. Southgate and Neville created the opening and although Secu managed to touch the ball towards his goalkeeper, Shearer was already lunging in to score.
