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Mark Sampson happy with England display but frustrated with result

Saturday 08 Apr 2017
Mark Sampson has won 30 of his 50 matches as England Women's head coach

Mark Sampson gave a reasoned assessment of England’s 1-1 draw with Italy on Friday night.

The Lionesses dominated proceedings at Port Vale and went ahead in the second half through Jodie Taylor.

But the lead only lasted three minutes as Valentina Cernoia grabbed an unlikely draw for the visitors in Sampson’s 50th match in charge.

England 1-1 Italy
  • A Women's International
  • Friday 7 April 2017
  • Vale Park, Port Vale FC
The head coach said: “I think we did more than enough to win the game and I think over the course of 90 minutes the biggest disappointment is conceding the goal in the manner we did.

“It was a really poor goal from our point of view, unlike us, and then particularly coming not so long after we had scored a goal.

“I felt it was one of those nights where we looked really positive with our play, created lots of chances, and were finding lots of spaces.

“But it was one of those nights where the ball wasn't in the back of the net for us.

“When you do get your goal it is important you make sure you remain tight and composed at the back to not concede. Up to that point, Italy didn't look like scoring.”

Friday’s match at Vale Park was England’s penultimate home match before the Euros, against another finalist.

Austria, ranked 24th in the world, have also qualified for the tournament and they provide the opposition in Milton Keynes on Monday.

Dominik Thalhammer’s side made it to Netherlands 2017 ahead of Wales and Sampson is expecting another tricky encounter.

He said: “I watched a few of their games in qualifying. They drew away in Norway and that’s no mean feat, and they came through a tough group.

“They can be competitive and they will definitely fancy their chances of getting through the group stage in Holland so we need to be mindful of their threat.”

Tickets are priced £7.50 for adults and £3.50 for children. A family ticket (two adults and two children) is available at £15.

Tickets can be bought via www.TheFA.com/Tickets.

Tickets are also available by calling 0333 200 5343 and in person at the club’s box office.

England’s open their Euro 2017 campaign against Scotland in Utrecht on 19 July, before facing Spain in Breda on 23 July and Portugal in Tilburg on 27 July.

By Glenn Lavery