Report: England WU17s 2-1 Poland

England women’s under-17s got off to a winning start in their EURO campaign on Sunday morning, with a 2-1 victory over Poland.

It took a first-half brace from striker Michelle Agyemang to seal three points for the Young Lionesses’ in their group stage opener in Estonia.

And Mo Marley’s team had to play for more than half the game with ten players, following a first-half red card for defender Mari Ward before Poland pulled a goal back in the dying stages.

An eventful first half spring to life after just four minutes when Lola Brown’s run took her into the box before she slipped a pass inside to Agyemang. The striker held off a challenge before firing a shot into the roof of the net to give England a dream start.

And they doubled their advantage midway through the first half when Agyemang was on hand to take advantage of a defensive slip-up between Poland defender Klaudia Kielcewska and goalkeeper Sandra Urbanczyk after a pass from Ava Baker, scoring from close range.

But the game swung back in Poland’s direction with ten minutes to play before half time when Mari Ward brought down Weronika Arasniewicz in the box to concede a penalty, before being shown a red card.

Fortunately for England, Sophia Poor made a fine save to turn Magdalena Polrolniczak’s spot kick away to safety and the Young Lionesses retained their two-goal cushion at the break.

With a player advantage, England had to tread carefully in the second half and Marley’s side managed to keep their opponents at bay as Poland threw everything at them in search of a lifeline.

And they reduced the arrears in the second minute of stoppage time when Wiktoria Kuprowska made it 2-1 with a half-volley at the far post following a cross from Inez Sikora. 

With a total of nine minutes added on, England had to face up to more and more Polish pressure as they pushed in search of a point.

It was too little, too late for the Poles though as England saw the game out from their to pick up the points ahead of their second game with Sweden on Wednesday evening.

England: 1 Sophia Poor (Leicester City), 2 Ria Bose (Chelsea), 3 Mari Ward (Bristol City), 4 Laila Harbert (Arsenal), 5 Katie Reid (Arsenal), 6 Zara Shaw (Liverpool),7 Araya Dennis (Arsenal), 8 Lexi Potter (Chelsea) (c), 9 Michelle Agyemang (Arsenal), 10 Lola Brown (Chelsea), 11 Ava Baker (Leicester City)

Substitutes: 12 Milly Round (Aston Villa) for Agyemang 63, 16 Sophie Harwood (Southampton) for Bose 63, 15 Lucy Newell (West Bromwich Albion) for Dennis 63, 20 Isabella Fisher (Arsenal) for Baker 90+1, 14 Holly Deering (Manchester United) for Potter 90+1

Substitutes not used: 13 Katie Cox (Chelsea), 17 Ruby-Rae Tucker (Aston Villa), 18 Erica Parkinson (SC Leixoes), 19 Vera Jones (Barry Town)

Head coach: Mo Marley

Goals: Michelle Agyemang 4, 22