Report: England WU19s 1-3 Spain

England women's under-19s missed out on a spot in the UEFA Women's U19 EURO Final, after a 3-1 loss to Spain in the semi-final.

The reigning back-to-back champions proved to be a challenge for the Young Lionesses in Lithuania, as their first U19 EURO semi-final appearance in over a decade ended in defeat.

It's been a campaign to be proud of for John Griffiths' squad, who reached the Finals after emerging through two qualification rounds in the season, and then topping their group stage at the Finals.

But they found a formidable Spanish team in opposition and they started on the front foot, with forward Marisa squandering a fine chance in the opening seconds. Sonia Bermudez’s side would continue to control possession in the opening 20 minutes, leaving the Young Lionesses to look for counterattacks to gain a foothold in the fixture.

Despite England's defensive resilience early the game, Spain opened the scoring with 25 minutes gone after Agote latched onto Lucy Newell's clearance to round 'keeper Katie Cox and fire Spain ahead.

But the Young Lionesses continued to show the fight which had taken them this far into competition. Signs of a more concerted effort to press their opponents higher up the pitch led to a flurry of Spanish mistakes after their opener.

However, the five-time champions would double their lead just before the interval after an unlucky break in the box saw the ball fall to Pau, who finished calmly to give Spain control heading into half time.

With a mountain to climb, England started the second half with intent and this was rewarded instantly. A strong knock-down from Michelle Agyemang set-up substitute Mia Enderby to half the deficit only two minutes into the second period to give England some hope.

With this ensued an even start to the second half with both sides having opportunities to alter the score in their favour.

And it was Spain who capitalised as another half-time substitute Arques provided La Roja with their third, a wonderful curling finish from the midfielder which restored their two-goal cushion.

The Young Lionesses will take only positives from this campaign, after a first semi-final appearance in the U19 EURO since 2013, John Griffiths and his side will be looking positively towards the future before the next year group of WU19s will target the 2025 European Championship in Poland.

England: 1 Katie Cox (GK, Chelsea), 3 Cerys Brown (Chelsea), 4 Ashanti Akpan (Chelsea), 5 Lucy Newell (Manchester United). 6 Brooke Aspin (Chelsea)(C), 8 Lexi Potter (Chelsea), 9 Michelle Agyemang (Arsenal), 10 Maddy Earl (Arsenal), 14 Poppy Pritchard (Manchester City), 16 Katy Watson (Sunderland),17 Ria Bose (Unattached)

Substitutes: Freya Godfrey (Arsenal) for Pritchard 46’, Mia Enderby (Liverpool) for Watson 46’, Vivianne Lia (Arsenal) for Earl 62’, Louanne Worsey (Birmingham City) for Akpan 80’, Katie Reid (Arsenal) for Aspin 80’

Substitutes not used: 13 Hannah Poulter (Brighton & Hove Albion)(GK), 20 Araya Dennis (Tottenham Hotspur)

Goals: Enderby 47’

Head Coach: John Griffiths