Report: Norway 0-0 England WU23s

England women’s under-23s had to settle for a point in their first game of the week in the WU23 Euro Competition, after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Norway at the Fredrikstad Stadium in Krakeroy.

Emma Coates’ Young Lionesses were unfortunate not to come away with a win too, after controlling the game for long periods and creating a number of opportunities in the second half while keeping their hosts largely at bay.

They will now head back home for their final game of the year, when they face another Scandinavian opponent in Sweden at Doncaster Rovers next Monday.

England enjoyed the better of the first half, and the first real chance of the game came after five minutes following a great passing move as Lucia Kendall and Ruby Grant combined to play in Mia Enderby. She did brilliantly to hold the ball up and spread the play to Katie Robinson on the left, whose shot across goal was well saved by home keeper Sunniva Skoglund.

The Young Lionesses were dealt a blow midway through the half when Brooke Aspin was forced off through injury and replaced by Teyah Goldie.

England regrouped again though, as Robinson and Morris linked up well down the right after 30 minutes with Morris cutting the ball back to Ruby Grant, whose effort went over.

And in first-half stoppage time, Anouk Denton played a cross in from the left which Lucia Kendall got her head to, only to see it well saved by the keeper.

Into the second period and England kept on pressing, with clever play from the full-backs seeing Denton cut inside and play a ball out to Morris who shot narrowly over less than five minutes after the restart.

England’s best chance of the half came just after the hour, when Robinson’s cross from the right was laid off by Enderby for Kendall but her goalbound effort was blocked by a defender and diverted over.

Robinson was then denied by Skoglund again, after Maisie Symonds, Kendall and Denton combined from a short corner with the latter squaring it to the captain whose 25-yard strike was incredibly tipped over.

With the game heading into the last ten minutes, Norway gave the ball away in a dangerous position allowing Kendall to drive forward and play it out to substitute and debutant Isobel Goodwin. She took a powerful shot across goal, which looked to be creeping into the bottom corner but flew narrowly wide.

A fine pass from Morris over the Norwegian defence to Enderby saw a brilliant touch to bring it under control before beating her defender, but her effort was narrowly wide of the post as Coates’ team kept pushing for the win.

It wasn't to be though, as Norway held on through five additional minutes to ensure the points were shared.

England: 1 Khiara Keating (Manchester City), 2 Ella Morris (Tottenham Hotspur), 3 Anouk Denton (West Ham), 4 Maisie Symonds (Brighton & Hove Albion), 5 Brooke Aspin (Chelsea on loan to Crystal Palace), 6 Hannah Silcock (Liverpool), 7 Katie Robinson (Aston Villa) (c), 8 Lucia Kendall (Southampton) 9 Mia Enderby (Liverpool), 10 Ruby Grant (BK Hacken), 11 Missy Goodwin (Leicester City),

Substitutes: 14 Teyah Goldie (Arsenal on loan to London City Lionesses) for Aspin 21, 20 Elysia Boddy (Newcastle United) for Grant 62, 18 Isobel Goodwin (London City Lionesses) for Missy Goodwin 72, 16 Olivia McLoughlin (Rangers) for Symonds 84, 17 Lenna Gunning-Williams (Tottenham Hotspur) for Enderby 84

Substitutes not used: 12 Tara Bourne (Southampton), 13 Fran Stenson (Southampton), 15 Neve Herron (Birmingham City), 19 Megan Collett (Southampton), 21 Sarah Brasero (G.D. Estoril Praia), 22 Emily Orman (London City Lionesses, loan from Chelsea)

Head coach: Emma Coates