Report: England WU19s 2-3 France

England women’s under-19s suffered a 3-2 defeat to France in their opening match of the La Nucia tournament in Alicante.

The Young Lionesses impressed at the Camilo Cano Sports City and twice led through Michelle Agyemang before France came from behind to win.

England took the lead in the 18th minute when Vivienne Lia did well to beat two defenders wide on the left and crossed for Agyemang, who slid to direct the ball into the far corner from close range.

France equalised four minutes later though in impressive fashion as Charline Coutel scored with the help of the crossbar from 20 yards.

Agyemang went one better around the half-hour mark though as she lobbed the goalkeeper with a curling, dipping effort from even further out.

France equalised once more five minutes into the second half when a pass back was a little short and Hannah Poulter’s attempted clearance was closed down, leaving Lucie Calba with a simple tap-in.

They then took the lead with just over 20 minutes remaining when Poulter tipped Wassa Sangare’s header on to the crossbar and the ball seemed to bounce over the line before her team-mates attempted to bundled the ball in.

The Young Lionesses will now take on Norway on Tuesday 27 February (1pm GMT) at Meliá Villaitana Hotel.

England: 13 Hannah Poulter (University of Southern California), 3 Cerys Brown (Chelsea/Watford), 5 Brooke Aspin (Chelsea/Bristol City), 6 Ashanti Akpan (Chelsea), 9 Michelle Agyemang (Arsenal/Watford), 10 Alexia Potter (Chelsea/Crystal Palace) ©, 11 Katy Watson (Sunderland), 14 Vivienne Lia (Arsenal), 19 Louanne Worsey (Birmingham City/Nottingham Forest), 20 Megan Collett (Southampton), 21 Lucy Newell (Manchester United/West Bromwich Albion)

Subs: 7 Poppy Pritchard (Manchester City) for Agyemang 45, 8 Maddy Earl (Arsenal) for Potter 61, 15 Araya Dennis (Tottenham Hotspur/Crystal Palace) for Watson, 18 Lily Murphy (Manchester City/Stoke City) for Lia 61, 2 Ria Bose (Chelsea) for Aspin 77

Subs not used: 1 Katie Cox (Chelsea), 22 Eve Annets (Reading), 12 Mackenzie Smith (North Carolina State University), 16 Ava Baker (Leicester City), 17 Mia Enderby (Liverpool), 23 Mari Ward (Bristol City), 24 Georgia Mullett (Aston Villa)

Goals: Michelle Agyemang 18, 31