FOUR former Bantams were part of the England Veterans side who made a winning start to the defence of their World Seniors title with a 2-1 win over Scotland in Thailand's rain-soaked Hia Hin Stadium.

Peter Beagrie, Jason Price and Wesley Reid were in the line-up along with Bradford-born Lee Elam, a former City youth coach, who earned an assist and a goal.

After a cagey start, reigning champions England made the breakthrough midway into the first half when Elam, who enjoyed a brief spell at Park Avenue, was brought down in the penalty area and Beagrie stepped up to convert the penalty.

Just after the break, England scored the decisive second when a poor clearance from the Scots was picked up by Andy Hessenthaler and played on to Rod Thornley, who turned his man on the edge of the box and put Elam through to score.

The Hua Hin crowd, many of whom were local school children, provided a fantastic back drop of noise and colour as England looked to stamp their authority on the game.

But as the rain started to fall, the Scots rallied, scoring from a set piece with just under 20 minutes to go.

England held out to give them confidence ahead of today's game with Taiwan.