England U18s ended their trip to Slovakia with a shootout defeat against Spain, after a dramatic 1-1 draw in the final of this week’s tournament.
The game was a very tight and keenly contested final, with no shortage of drama, with Young Lions keeper Marcus Dewhurst proving an unlikely hero.
Before that, Spain took the lead after just ten minutes after Cedrid Noubi’s header was deflected in at the far post.
And chances for both teams were at a premium after that and it looked as though Spain were going to hold on for a narrow victory.
However, after a spell of pressure in the later stages, the Young Lions equalised deep into stoppage time and from an unlikely source, as Sheffield United's Dewhurst scrambled the ball home after Rhys Williams got on the end of Harvey White’s corner with just 30 seconds remaining.
That took the game to a penalty shootout with Morgan Whittaker and Harvey White scoring from the spot, while Matty Daly, Abdi Sharif and Clinton Mola missed their efforts to see Spain lift the trophy.
Despite the shootout defeat, it has been a successful trip for England though with group stage victories over Russia and Japan and a draw with the host nation seeing them through to another final.
England: 13 Marcus Dewhurst (Sheffield United), 2 Vontae Daley-Campbell (Arsenal), 3 Nathanel Ogbeta (Manchester City), 4 Tommy Doyle (Manchester City), 5 Rhys Williams (Liverpool), 7 Arvin Appiah (Nottingham Forest), 9 Tyreece John-Jules (Arsenal), 10 Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa), 12 Ben Cottrell (Arsenal), 15 Luis Binks (Tottenham Hotspur), 21 J'Neil Bennett (Tottenham Hotspur)
Substitutes: 8 Matthew Daly (Huddersfield Town) for Cottrell 51, 17 Clinton Mola (Chelsea) for Ramsey 51, 11 Morgan Whittaker (Derby County) for Appiah 58, 14 Rayhaan Tulloch (WBA) for John-Jules 58, 16 Harvey White (Tottenham Hotspur) for Doyle 58, 20 Abdi Sharif (Liverpool) for Bennett 58, 18 Bali Mumba (Sunderland) for Ogbeta 68
Substitutes not used: 1 Arthur Okonkwo (Arsenal), 22 Rowan McDonald (Manchester City)
Goals: Marcus Dewhurst 80+5
Cautions: Tommy Doyle 35
Head coach: Neil Dewsnip
