Report: England WU20s 11-0 New Caledonia

England women’s under-20s completed their preparations for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup with an 11-0 win over New Caledonia.

Lily Dent, Jessie Gale, Lucy Newell – who netted a second-half double – Jess Anderson, Vera Jones, hat-trick hero Princess Ademiluyi and Layla Drury were all on target at St. George’s Park.

The Young Lionesses started brightly. Awarded a free-kick outside the edge of the box, Jones’ delivery was straight onto the head of Eleanor Klinger, whose effort rattled back off the crossbar.

The New Caledonian goalkeeper had to be alert, getting a hand to another Jones set piece – which was heading for the top corner – to tip it over. And just a minute later, the opposition stopper made a save on the line to keep out Klinger’s header from a Jones corner.

Lydia Bedford’s side made the breakthrough with just over ten minutes played. Ria Bose won the free-kick, with Rachel Maltby’s brilliant delivery finding the head of Newell. The latter knocked it down for Dent who slotted home.

And two minutes later, England’s lead was doubled. It was another assist for Maltby who played a ball in from the left and Gale got a touch on it to direct it past the keeper.

There were chances later in the half for Newell and Bose as the Young Lionesses took a 2-0 lead into the break.

Following the restart, Newell added her name to the scoresheet. The defender’s header from Jones’ pinpoint corner nestled into the bottom corner.

And just three minutes later, Newell made it four with her second goal. Another set play – a corner delivery from Jones – caused havoc in the box. The keeper punched clear but only as far as Newell who rifled off a shot into the bottom corner.

With her first touch of the game after being introduced off the bench, Anderson delivered a cross-turned-shot into the box which deceived the keeper and found the corner to make it five.

Jones, having an impressive game, eventually got in on the act with a fantastic free-kick from 28 yards out to make it 6-0.

Another substitute, Ademiluyi, scored an eight-minute hat-trick before adding a fourth. The forward beat her defender and slotted home for her first after being played through by Jones. For her second, she linked up with Chloe B. Hylton before firing past the keeper. A clever flick completed her treble and Anderson set up the fourth.

Layla Drury made the scoresheet in stoppage time, shooting from inside the box as it trickled past the keeper.

And with moments left on the watch, Keeper Katie Cox kept her concentration to pull off an unbelievable save, flying across her goal to palm the ball over for a corner to preserve England’s clean sheet.

Bedford’s team get their tournament underway on Saturday 5 September (5pm BST kick-off) when the Young Lionesses face Canada in their opening game in Poland.

England: 1 Katie Cox (Chelsea, on loan to Nottingham Forest), 2 Ria Bose (West Ham), 3 Chloe Sarwie (Chelsea), 4 Chloe B. Hylton (Carolina Ascent), 5 Zara Shaw (Liverpool), 6 Lucy Newell (Manchester United), 7 Vera Jones (Chelsea, on loan to Watford), 8 Lily Dent (Brighton & Hove Albion, on loan to Sunderland), 9 Jessie Gale (Arsenal, on loan to Newcastle United), 10 Eleanor Klinger (Stanford University), 11 Rachel Maltby (Aston Villa)

Substitutes: 12 Sacha Lewis (Manchester City) for Bose 45’, *16 Layla Drury (Manchester United) for Klinger 60’, 14 Princess Ademiluyi (Gotham FC, on loan to Ipswich Town) for Gale 60’, *15 Jess Anderson (Manchester United) for Newell 60’

Substitutes not used: 13 Kaiya Jota (Stanford University), 22 Eve Annets (Manchester City, on loan to Hibernian)

Head coach: Lydia Bedford

Goals: Dent 12’, Gale 14’, Newell 51’ 54’, Anderson 62’, Jones 64’, Ademiluyi 81’ 80’ 89’ 90+1, Drury 90+4’

*Jess Anderson and Layla Drury have joined the squad at St. George’s Park as training players for the final preparation camp