England Women’s U19s missed out on retaining their UEFA European Championship title on Saturday after losing 2-1 to France in the Final in Skopje.
Two defensive errors ultimately cost England the chance to become the first England team for 26 years to retain a major honour after France came from behind to snatch the closely-contested match at the National Arena.
England started well with two early chances to take the lead when Jordan Nobbs and Toni Duggan had encouraging goal opportunities. However, while Nobbs’ went over the bar, Duggan’s effort was saved by Laetitia Philippe.
An early challenge from Gemma Bonner denied Marina Makanza the chance to face Becky Spencer on-on-one while a corner from Jess Holbrook set the Leeds Carnegie defender up with a header to see the ball hit the side-netting.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Related stories:
Love football? Tour of Manchester United
Football: What would you do to watch the final in South Africa?
Football: England maintain 100% record in World Cup qualifiers
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Midway through the first half the Three Lions took the lead when Holbrook’s deserving shot beat the French stopper. However, the Everton midfielder’s advantage didn’t last long, with a mistake at the back allowing Lavaud a free run down the left-hand channel towards Spencer’s goal, tucking the ball away neatly into the corner of the net.
A defensive France limited England’s shots to a few from distance and ten minutes into the second half Crammer took advantage of a miss-placed pass from the Arsenal keeper, with a simple shot towards the empty net.
Remaining defensive, France succeeded in protecting their advantage with Spencer meeting the challenge with a fine stop in another one-one-one with Lavaud.
With time running out Duggan’s left-foot attempt and half-volley from the edge of the area were both dealt with by Philippe to see the French win the title at final whistle for a second time. England’s disappointment was aggravated by an ankle injury to Arsenal defender Gilly Flaherty.
Jessica Whittington, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
Image credit: (c)iStockphoto.com
