Ebony Salmon and Lauren James each scored twice as England Women’s U17s defeated Slovakia 6-0 in Riga to advance to the final round of Euro qualifying.
After scoring in Saturday’s 10-0 win over Latvia, FC Saarbrucken’s Hannah Griffin bagged again to give the Young Lionesses a fifth-minute lead.
Salmon doubled this advantage with her second goal in as many games before Liverpool’s Simran Jhamat made it 3-0 from the penalty spot after the break.
Aston Villa attacker Salmon notched her brace a minute later before James netted a double of her own, the first a penalty, to seal another big win.
England and Scotland meet in the final group game on Friday, with both nations having picked up six points from their opening two matches, and with it a place in the elite qualifying round next spring.
England (4-4-2): 1 Fran Stenson (Birmingham City); 10 Jess Woolley (Bristol City), Naomi Hartley (capt; Liverpool), 15 Lucy Roberts (Liverpool), 12 Asmita Ale (Aston Villa); 7 Simran Jhamat (Liverpool), 20 Ava Kuyken (Arsenal), 4 Aimee Everett (Liverpool), 11 Lauren James (Arsenal); 8 Hannah Griffin (FC Saarbrucken), 9 Ebony Salmon (Aston Villa).
Substitutes: 2 Kiera Skeels (Southampton) for Roberts 61, 16 Emma Brown (Teesside Girls) for Everett 61, 14 Lia Cataldo (Arsenal) for Jhamat 69.
Substitutes not used: 13 Fran Bentley (Manchester City), 3 Phoebe Williams (Southampton), 5 Abbie Roberts (MK Dons), 18 Jessica Park (York City), 17 Paige Bailey-Gayle (Arsenal), 19 Annabel Blanchard (Liverpool).
Goals: Griffin 5, Salmon 36, 51, Jhamat 50, James 59, 79.
Head coach: John Griffiths
