Report: Italy 1-3 England WU17s

England women’s under-17s sealed their place at this summer’s UEFA Women’s U17 EURO Finals in Sweden, after making it three wins from three games with a 3-1 victory over Italy.

Natalie Henderson’s Young Lionesses have been in Serbia for the last week for their second round qualifying fixtures, which had seen them beat the host nation by 3-0 last weekend before seeing off Greece with a 2-0 win on Wednesday.

And Saturday’s victory secures progress for England to the Finals, which will take place between 5-18 May in Malmo and Lund.

England started brightly in the game, played at the Serbian national football centre in Stara Pazova, with Italian goalkeeper Sabrina Nespolo making a great save to deny Denny Draper’s header after just 15 minutes.

But she couldn’t prevent England’s opener soon after, when Vera Jones broke in from the left before firing a crisp finish past Nespolo from inside the box which bounced off the post and into the net.

The first half was proving a real battle between the teams, and Italy found a way back into the game just before the break as the lively Eleonora Ferraresi rose highest to head home in the 43rd minute.

Henderson made a change at half time with Eva Gray introduced and the Arsenal player made an instant impact as she scored within a minute of the restart to restore England’s lead. The goal came after good work on the left by Draper led to a low ball across the box with Gray arriving to steer home at the far post.

And the Young Lionesses didn’t stop there as just three minutes later they added another when Jones nicked the ball off Nespolo in the area before Draper selfishly picked up the loose ball and set up Lola Brown to make it 3-1.

Henderson and her squad will now head home knowing they’ll be joining U17 EURO hosts Sweden and six other nations in the Finals, with the draw scheduled for Tuesday 26 March in Lund.

England: 13 Rebekah Dowsett (Watford/Leicester City), 2 Nelly Las (Leicester City), 3 Rachel Maltby (Aston Villa), 4 Laila Harbert (Arsenal/Watford) ©, 6 Cecily Wellesley-Smith (Oxford United), 7 Erica Parkinson (FC Valadares), 9 Denny Draper (Leicester City), 10 Vera Jones (Barry Town), 11 Lola Brown (Chelsea), 15 Niamh Peacock (Arsenal), 18 Mia Endacott (Plymouth Argyle)

Substitutes: 17 Eva Gray (Arsenal) for Endacott 46, 19 Isabella Fisher (Arsenal) for Draper 73

Substitutes not used: 1 Eva Spencer, 5 Simone Sherwood (Leicester City), 8 Omotara Junaid (Arsenal), 12 Sophie Harrison (Arsenal), 14 Emily Cassap (Sunderland), 16 Abby Kay (Chelsea), 20 Eva Hendle (Chelsea)

Head coach: Natalie Henderson

Goals: Vera Jones 23, Eva Gray 47, Lola Brown 50