Shropshire enjoys England again at Telford

The previous Tuesday night, the England under-21 team made history with the biggest win in their history, 9-0 against San Marino, in front of 9,264 at Shrewsbury Town.

This time, on a Tuesday afternoon, 2,185 ushered in the start of host nation England's challenge against Italy in the UEFA Women's Under-17 European Championship.

Both clubs have welcomed the opportunity to raise their profile to an international audience and can, rightly, consider the exercise a resounding success.

The respective England groups will be back, they have every reason to be pleased with their treatment in Shropshire and have gone on the record to state as such.

The children who were on hand at Telford, many on specially-arranged school trips, may well be attending international fixtures as a norm by the time they come of age.

Unfortunately, this England side couldn't produce a victory against an industrious Italian side, but they showed plenty of character to take into the rest of the tournament.

The Young Lionesses and their Italian counterparts kicked off Group A with a cagey affair that appeared destined to finish goalless until the 79th minute.

That's when Federica Cavicchia took her time to meet a ball outside of the box and guide a lob over goalkeeper Kirstie Levell and into the net.

England camped in the opposition half in search of an equaliser and nearly forced a draw through Sophie Stamp two minutes later.

Stamp's rising shot forced Italy goalkeeper Francesca Durante into action, with a strong hand pushing the ball over the crossbar.

Then captain Leah Williamson came agonisingly close to a leveller in stoppage time, meeting Stamp's corner from the left with a header that dropped a fraction wide of the post.

What was, for the most part, a stalemate didn't appear to be on the cards after a frantic opening couple of minutes, where both sides could have taken the lead.

In the first minute, Ashley Plumptre rose to meet Evie Clarke's header into the box but couldn't direct her effort on target, nodding over the bar.

Italy raced straight up the other end a minute later and should have opened the scoring through Flaminia Simonetti, who could only turn Valentina Bergamaschi's pull back wide of the post.

England striker Chloe Kelly tried her luck outside of the area on 21 minutes, but her effort was straight at Durante who made the catch.

Italy started to threaten frequently after the break and a sign of things to come saw substitute Gloria Marinelli head over Martina Piemonte's cross.

A minute later, a warning that was not heeded saw Cavicchia put a shot over the first time, while Mollie Rouse ran onto a loose ball in the box only to fire low past the post on 76 minutes.

Then came the goal and a frantic fightback that, ultimately, proved unsuccessful for England. They now face Austria at Chesterfield's Proact Stadium on Friday night.

England (4-4-2): Lovett, Hassall, Rouse, Williamson (c), Purfield (Wilkinson 81), Clarke, Walsh (Porter 70), Stamp, Plumptre, Kelly, Rouse.

Substitutes not used: Rogers (GK), Cowley,Williams, Lloyd, Primus.

Italy (4-1-2-3): Durante, Vergani, Boattin (c), Peresotti, Rizza, Cavicchia, Guigliano, Simonetti (Abati 90), Bergamaschi, Vigilucci (Marinelli 51), Piemonte (Mascarello 66)

Substitutes not used: Piazza (GK), Perin, Mella, Seturini.Referee: Sara Persson (Sweden)

Attendance: 2,185

By Craig Birch