Noble picked up bookings in the first two qualifiers of the season and missed the win over Montenegro last week but he returned to good effect by scoring the first two goals at Turner’s Cross.

James Milner’s deflected effort meant Stuart Pearce’s youngsters were in a similar position to the seniors at the weekend as they defended their 3-0 lead and shut the game out.

The hosts did push forward to threaten Joe Hart’s goal, with Anthony Stokes doing his best to impress as he fights for a place back in the seniors.

The name Rooney usually strikes fear into defences – and Adam Rooney also had a few efforts that required Hart to work, but England have still not conceded in Group 3 and have maintained their 100% record. The hosts have lost their only two games.

The fact that Stokes was the only home player to have played in the Barclays Premier League this season proved the difference, with the visitors breaking at speed with their quality.

They were also helped by Theo Walcott, who passed a late fitness test and provided plenty of pace along with in-form striker Gabriel Agbonlahor.

The tightly packed crowd made for a lively atmosphere but the home fans were silenced in the 10th minute when Noble opened the scoring.

He had scored in Bulgaria in the match he picked up his suspension in, and he netted again on his return, this time lobbing Darren Randolph after the goalkeeper had fumbled Andrew Taylor’s cross from the left.

The West Ham midfielder doubled the lead in the 17th minute, providing a crisper finish after Agbonlahor had cut in from the left, outpacing Richard Keogh and pulling the ball back.

The hosts thought they should have had a penalty when Milner tripped Billy Clarke, but the referee awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area and Stokes saw his set-piece deflected wide.

Milner had earlier been caught straight between the legs getting in the way of a clearance but he showed he was not rattled by the eye-watering incident when he extended the lead in the 26th minute.

The Newcastle midfielder met full-back Taylor’s cross with a sharp first-time turn and his shot took a wicked deflection off Darren O’Dea to wrong-foot Randolph.

Despite being in total control, Taylor was effectively booked for timewasting when he held onto the ball after conceding a throw-in.

Hart was then forced to save three times from Rooney, while Clarke drove across the face of England’s goal.

Stephen Quinn was yellow-carded for kicking the ball away just before the break, while Jim O’Brien picked one up just after the break for a trip on Milner.

Owen Garvan was booked for diving in the penalty area in the second half, while Noble was in the hunt for a hat-trick at the other end and saw his effort from the edge of the area saved.

He came even closer with 14 minutes remaining but his effort was deflected over by a brave Stephen O’Halloran block.

Hart saved at full stretch from Quinn’s long-range effort at the other end.