England MU19s ended their trip to Spain with a 4-2 victory over Belgium on Saturday, with a comprehensive performance.
Paul Simpson’s Young Lions, who lost their first game of the week against France on Wednesday, got off to a strong start and were gifted a sixth-minute lead thanks to an own goal from the Belgians after a long build up and cross from the left..
But Belgium got themselves level after 22 minutes when striker Antoine Collasin tapped home to equalise after goalkeeper Zach Jeacock had been dispossessed in the box.
It looked as though the teams would be going in level at the break, but Bobby Duncan struck England ahead two minutes into stoppage time to give England the advantage with his first goal for the MU19s with a low left-foot drive.
And less than ten minutes after the restart, Simpson's team built on that and took a 3-1 lead when Henry Lawrence over-lapped from right back before cutting inside and sealing his England debut with a goal via a low finish.
Belgium pulled a goal back with a long-range effort just after the hour mark to reduce the deficit, but Duncan renewed the two-goal advantage almost straight after by with a pacy free-kick whipped home to complete the scoring.
The U19s will now turn their attention to November's Euro Qualifiers which sees them facing North Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Luxembourg.
England: 1 Zach Jeacock (Gloucester City, loan from Birmingham City), 2 Henry Lawrence (Chelsea), 5 Rhys Williams (Kidderminster Harriers, loan from Liverpool), 6 Ajibola Alese (Accrington Stanley, loan from West Ham), 3 Luke Thomas (Leicester City), 8 Sonny Hilton (Fulham), 4 James Gardner (Manchester United) (C), 10 Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa), 7 Arvin Appiah (Almeria), 9 Bobby Duncan (Fiorentina), 11 Anthony Gordon (Everton).
Substitutes: 22 Luca Ashby-Hammond for Jeacock, Paris Maghoma for Garner, Curtis Jones for Gordon
Substitutes not used: 13 Jack Bycroft (Southampton) 12 Vontae Daley-Campbell (Leicester City), 16 Lee Buchanan (Derby County), 15 Clinton Mola (Chelsea), 14 Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Manchester City), 18 Morgan Whittaker (Derby County), 21 Ryan Edmondson (Leeds United)
Head coach: Paul Simpson
Goals: OG 6 mins, Bobby Duncan 45, 66, Henry Lawrence 54
