England stormed to a remarkable 12-0 win over Belarus in the UEFA Women’s U17 Championship to put them within touching distance of the semi-finals.
John Griffiths’s side opened their Group A campaign with a 3-2 victory over Norway on Wednesday, but this match never looked like being anywhere near as close after Blackburn Rovers’ Ella Toone opened the floodgates after just five minutes.
Arsenal’s Anna Filbey, one of five players to bag a brace, scored a quick-fire second and from then on in it appeared merely a matter of how many goals the Young Lionesses would score.
Belarus 0-12 England
UEFA Women's U17 Championship
Group A
Saturday 7 May 2016
City Stadium, Slutsk, Belarus
Alessia Russo netted the first of her double on the quarter-hour mark before Filbey added a fourth.
Russo was at it again soon after with her 12th goal in the competition.
Manchester City youngster Georgia Stanway was suspended for the Norway match, as was Sheffield FC’s Hannah Cain, but she captained England here in Slutsk and got her name on the scoresheet after half an hour.
Toone bagged again to make it 7-0 at the break.
There were five more goals in the second half – and they all came in the final 14 minutes.
Cain collected her brace either side of a Grace Smith strike, with all three goals coming inside four minutes.
Birmingham City’s Ellie Brazil, on for Russo, made it 11-0 in added time and there was still time for Aston Villa defender Smith to complete the scoring in the 85th minute.
It is the third time this season Griffiths’s side have reached double figures in a game, following the 13-0 wins over Croatia and Estonia.
It was also a record win in a UEFA Finals tournament, at any level.
A point against Serbia in the final group match will seal a place in the last four of the Euros, with the top three teams in the competition qualifying for the FIFA Women’s U17 World Cup in Jordan.
England (4-5-1): 1 Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City); 15 Lois Joel (Chelsea), 12 Anna Patten (Arsenal), 5 Grace Smith (Aston Villa), 14 Kelsey Pearson (Blackburn Rovers); 17 Hannah Cain (Sheffield FC), 18 Anna Filbey (Arsenal), 2 Flo Allen (Bristol City), 10 Georgia Stanway (Manchester City), 16 Ella Toone (Blackburn Rovers); 7 Alessia Russo (Chelsea).
Substitutes: 9 Ellie Brazil (Birmingham City) for Russo 41, 11 Niamh Charles (Liverpool) for Filbey 56, 3 Taylor Hinds (Arsenal) for Joel 69.
Substitutes not used: 13 Katie Startup (Gillingham), 4 Hollie Olding (Brighton & Hove Albion), 6 Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal), 8 Laura Hooper (Arsenal).
Goals: Toone 5, 38 Filbey 7, 19, Russo 15, 23, Stanway 29, Cain 71, 75 Smith 74, 80+5, Brazil 80+1.
Head coach: John Griffiths
Referee: Ana Aguiar (Portugal)
