England women’s U-23s had to settle for a goalless draw in Italy after a hard-fought game at the Stadio Tre Fontane in Rome on Monday afternoon.
It follows the Young Lionesses’ first game of the camp which saw them beat the Netherlands 2-0 in Walsall on Thursday night.
Head coach Mo Marley made four changes to her starting line-up against Italy, as Asmita Ale, Ruby Grant, Angela Addison and Grace Clinton all came into the side.
The first half saw both teams struggle to create clear-cut chances, with the Italian’s arguably having the best opportunity, as a great turn and cross from Emma Severini saw Alice Berti fire over the bar from close range.
England looked set to take the lead eight minutes into the second half as some good build-up play ended with Freya Gregory having a low shot cleared off the line by the Italian defender.
The home side should have taken the lead with a quarter of an hour remaining when a long ball resulted in Margherita Monnecchi beating goalkeeper Emily Ramsey to the ball and after reaching the byline, pulling it back to Miriam Longo for a tap-in, only for Poppy Pattinson to deflect the shot and then Tara Bourne block it on the line.
A looping header from Asia Bragonzi in the final ten minutes then crashed against the bar for Italy and England substitute Shannon O’Brien forced a save, but neither side were able to find the winning goal.
