Report: England WU19s 2-2 Norway
Goals from Vivienne Lia and Poppy Pritchard help Young Lionesses bounce back in Spain
England women’s under-19s produced an impressive second half comeback to draw 2-2 with Norway out in Spain.
The Young Lionesses had gone 2-0 down early in the second half but goals from Vivienne Lia and Poppy Pritchard in the final 20 minutes helped secure a draw at the Meliá Villaitana Hotel.
Interim WU19s coach John Griffiths made seven changes to the starting line-up which lost 3-2 to France on Saturday.
The sides could not be separated in the first half, although England’s Georgia Mullett and Lily Murphy both hit the woodwork.
Norway then took the lead within a minute of the restart through forward Linnea Sælen and they doubled their advantage nine minutes later when Kamilla Melgård made it 2-0.
England responded in impressive fashion with just over 20 minutes remaining when Lia did a step over on her way past the defender and then sent a rocket into the top corner from 18 yards out.
And the Young Lionesses equalised three minutes later when Louanne Worsey’s cross wasn’t fully cleared, leaving Pritchard to convert from inside the area.
England: 1 Katie Cox (Chelsea), 2 Ria Bose (Chelsea), 6 Ashanti Akpan (Chelsea), 8 Maddy Earl (Arsenal), 10 Alexia Potter (Chelsea/Crystal Palace), 17 Mia Enderby (Liverpool), 18 Lily Murphy (Manchester City/Stoke City), 20 Megan Collett (Southampton), 21 Lucy Newell (Manchester United/West Bromwich Albion) ©, 23 Mari Ward (Bristol City), 24 Georgia Mullett (Aston Villa)
Substitutes: 7 Poppy Pritchard (Manchester City) for Mullett 45, 16 Ava Baker (Leicester City) for Murphy 45, 14 Vivienne Lia (Arsenal) for Akpan 60, 3 Cerys Brown (Chelsea/Watford) for Ward 60, 15 Araya Dennis (Tottenham Hotspur/Crystal Palace) for Earl 60, 19 Louanne Worsey (Birmingham City/Nottingham Forest) for Collett 60, 12 Mackenzie Smith (North Carolina State University) for Bose 60, 22 Eve Annets (Reading) for Cox 60, 11 Katy Watson (Sunderland) for Enderby 78
Substitutes not used: 13 Hannah Poulter (University of Southern California), 4 Lois Marley-Paraskevas (Manchester City), 5 Brooke Aspin (Chelsea/Bristol City)
Interim head coach: John Griffiths
Goals: Vivienne Lia 70, Poppy Pritchard 73