Report: England WU17s 2-0 Czechia
The Young Lionesses made it two wins from two games at St. George's Park
England women’s under-17s continued on their EURO 2025 qualifying campaign, as they comfortably beat Czechia by two goals.
First-half strikes from Jessica Anderson and Eva Hendle secured the Young Lionesses a second victory of their qualifying campaign following Monday’s 7-0 win over Faroe Islands.
With both sides making a lively start, Czechia managed to test keeper Silvana Marshall Miranda first, striking the crossbar directly from a corner and it was the visitors who controlled the opening stages.
But it was the Young Lionesses who took the lead with their first meaningful attack of the half, when Anderson capitalised on England’s high press to calmly finish and make it 1-0 after 22 minutes.
England would continue to build on this lead, asserting themselves as the half continued, and they grabbed a second soon after, as Hendle latched onto the end of a Lois Shooter cross to slot the ball under the goalkeeper to double her side’s lead 15 minutes from the break.
John Salomon and his side controlled the fixture up until the interval, with Shooter having the chance to add a third, grazing the post from just inside the box.
With the second half commencing, Czechia continued to fight their way back into the fixture and started the sharper of the two sides, but to no avail.
The Young Lionesses still had their chances, however. A well-worked passage of play between Evie McCaffrey, Shooter and Anderson led to the latter’s shot fizzing just wide of the post.
As England continued on their search for a third, May Cruft was unlucky to be denied in a goal line scramble and this pressure was sustained, as captain Lucy Day was denied from inside the six-yard box moments later.
The home side would continue to probe, as a wonderful run on the left from Hendle resulted in Gabriella Storey clipping the bar, just minutes after coming on.
As the fixture proceeded into the last quarter, England continued to control the half as they had from the off as Salomon and his team claimed their second win of their qualifying campaign.
The WU17s will now face the Netherlands on Sunday 13 October, as they look to make it three wins from three in the EURO 2025 qualifying campaign.
England: 1 Silvana Marshall Miranda (Brighton & Hove Albion), 5 Eva Hendle (Chelsea), 6 Jessica Anderson (Manchester United), 8 Isabella Cowley (Chelsea), 9 Aaliyah Pearson (Manchester United), 10 Eva Forster (North Carolina Courage), 12 May Cruft (Rangers), 15 Evie McCaffrey (Manchester City), 16 Lois Shooter (Chelsea), 19 Lucy Day (Birmingham City) ©, 20 Elise Christian (Chelsea)
Substitutes: 18 Chloe Sarwie (Chelsea) for Pearson 67’, 7 Freya Hirons (Aston Villa) for Shooter 67’, 3 Isabel Hebard (Bristol City) for Anderson 76’, 17 Gabriella Storey (Chelsea) for Forster, 2 Jhanaie Dezire-Pierre (Tottenham Hotspur) for Hendle 85’
Substitutes not used: 4 Mia Balmer (Brighton & Hove Albion), 11 Taylor Warren (Chelsea), 13 Chiemela-Juj Ude (Arsenal), 14 Holly Minshull (Manchester United)
Goals: Anderson 22’, Hendle 30’
Head Coach: John Salomon
