England held in Russia

In the small, compact Kryoia Soveto stadium, Hope Powell's England controlled much of the early stages of play and did enough to create several goalscoring chances in the opening few minutes.

Just as it seemed England's profligacy in front of goal might be their undoing, Doncaster Rovers Belles striker Jody Handley, playing well out on the right, put them ahead in the 27th minute.

With Kelly Smith proving a constant menace to the home defence and good support from midfield provided for front runner Amanda Barr, the visitors might have been at least three goals ahead by the interval.

With Amanda Barr and Kelly Smith constantly evading their markers, England started to enjoy themselves on the ball and scored their second goal seven minutes into the second half, when Charlton Athletic striker Barr headed home from close range.

However, eight minutes after going two up, the Russians grabbed a goal back when Pauline Cope accidentally picked up a back pass. From the resulting free-kick, Elena Danilova knocked the ball past Cope before the England defence had sorted themselves out.

Far from disrupting the Three Lions' rhythm, the goal spurred on the England side but still they couldn't find the third goal which would kill off their hosts. Russia took heart from this and managed to score an equalising goal through Elena Terexova just eight minutes before the end.

Teams

Russia: S.Detko (M.Pigaleva, 46), N.Digaj, E.Stepanenko, E.Denchschik (O.Sergaeva, 58), V.Stroukova, E.Morozova, E.Fomina, T.Skotnikova, E.Danilova, N.Barbashina (N.Perzeva, 69), E.Terexova

England: R.Brown (P.Cope, 46), L.Champ, F.White (C.Stoney, 46), M.Phillip, R.Unitt, J.Handley, K.Chapman, F.Williams (V.Exley, 68), R.Yankey (S.Smith, 46), K.Smith (K.McDougall, 46), A.Barr (E.Maggs, 81)

Bookings: K.Chapman (32)
Attendance: 200