England prepare for European Women's Championship by thrashing Jamaica
The Lionesses were looking to gather some momentum before they face France in their Euros curtain-raiser next Saturday and were more or less out of sight at the half-time whistle.
Ella Toone struck twice from distance either side of Lucy Bronze's header to give England a three-goal lead at the break, but things could have been different if Kayla McKenna's effort for the visitors had not been ruled out by VAR for offside at 1-0.
Victory in our #WEURO2025 send-off match! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/2xXmCX9WFF
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) June 29, 2025
England fans cheered when Lauren James was introduced midway through the second period for her first minutes since suffering a hamstring injury in April.
England still had room for more though. Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo, Aggie Beever-Jones and Beth Mead also got in on the act to give England the perfect send off before they attempt to defend their European crown.
As expected, the home side started in dominant fashion and twice came close through Jess Carter and Stanway from outside the box.
However, it was not long before England made the breakthrough. Toone picked up the ball in space and curled one beyond the despairing dive of Liya Brooks to open the scoring in the 10th minute.
For all of England's early dominance, the visitors thought they had an equaliser out of nowhere until VAR gave Sarina Wiegman's side a reprieve.
Amelia van Zanten's corner was nudged on by Allyson Swaby and into the path of McKenna, whose shot deflected off Alex Greenwood and trickled over the line.
The players ran off to celebrate, but VAR showed Kalyssa van Zanten was stood in an offside position and in the line of sight of goalkeeper Hannah Hampton when the shot came in as referee Franziska Wildfeuer ruled the goal out.
England rubbed salt in the wound and doubled their lead, Jess Carter crossing on to the head of Bronze as she nodded into a empty goal after Brooks came racing off her line.
The hosts continued to pepper the Jamaica goal, Bronze's clever flick setting beautifully for Lauren Hemp to fire against the post 10 minutes before the break while Russo then hit the upright shortly after.
The Lionesses were 3-0 up in first-half stoppage time when Toone curled another great effort from the edge of the area for her second via a post.
England's fourth came 14 minutes into the second half. Brooks and the Jamaica defence did well to deny a barrage of pressure initially, but could not stop Stanway's bullet effort into the roof of the net.
The defending European champions showed no mercy, James making an instant impact after coming off the bench and floated an inch-perfect cross for Russo to head home at the far post.
England rounded off an easy afternoon in Leicester when Beever-Jones climbed off the bench and poked beyond Brooks before Mead fired home in stoppage time.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
33 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
School make lifelong memories at National Table Cricket Finals Day
The Cheltenham school battled through regional rounds to take on 11 other schools at the Home of Cricket, and while they didn't take home the trophy, they revelled in playing at an iconic sporting venue. The school only started playing the sport this academic year but teacher Richard Gill explained how it has already taken off amongst pupils who loved their day in London. 'They have loved it,' he said. 'We rocked up at school at 5.45 in the morning, there was lots of energy on the bus on the way here. We have had some really good individual and team performances. 'We are quite a new school, so these pupils are the pioneers. Looking back at it in a few years' time, they will really appreciate what they have done and the amazing opportunity. 'It has been amazing. We didn't think we could achieve something like this at the start of the year. 'We have got several pupils hooked for life and they had never played it before this year.' Table cricket is a fully inclusive, adapted version of the game aimed at young people living with a wide range of learning and physical disabilities played on a table tennis table. Teams of six compete to avoid fielders and hit specific scoring zones while the ball is bowled using a ramp. The Lord's Taverners runs its national competition each year, with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schools from across the country taking part. The sport provides opportunities for participants to benefit from all that sport can offer, something Gill has seen first-hand. 'Their confidence has grown massively, they have met so many new people on their journey and they are quite happy to talk to them,' he added. 'They have a really strong sense of pride and ownership around table cricket. They are trying to get more people involved at school and everyone wants a bit of it now because they've got to a national final. Everyone at school is so proud of them.' For the first time in the competition's history, National Finals Day took place as part of Disability Cricket Day, the biggest ever one-off showcase of disability cricket hosted by the MCC, ECB and Lord's Taverners which saw all formats of disability cricket on display from grassroots to elite level. The day was brought to a close by the first ever international disability cricket fixture on the main ground at Lord's, the third of a seven-match Vitality IT20 Mixed disability series between England and India. 'I saw table cricket for the first time a few years ago now and coming to the final here at Lord's today, you are struck immediately by the competitiveness, the keenness and the camaraderie,' said Lord's Taverners President and former England batter David Gower. 'Everyone's spirits are high and it's fantastic to see people getting everything they want from the game, who, as we know, wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity. Events like this are hugely important. 'The players are all so good, and they are all having immense fun. The atmosphere is just vibrant, and I love being a figurehead for Tavs, especially on days like today.' The Lord's Taverners impacts the lives of young people facing the challenges of inequality. The charity works across the UK and beyond to provide inclusive and impactful cricket programmes, empowering young people with disabilities and from disadvantaged communities – visit
The Guardian
36 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Farewell tradition, hello robots: Wimbledon adjusts to life without line judges
Sometimes progress registers simply as absence and so it was on the opening day of this year's Wimbledon when the pursuit of greater accuracy led to the disappearance of the tournament's famous line judges. Electronic line calls are now in operation in SW19, bringing the championships into line with the grand slams in Melbourne and New York and also the ATP Tour. The French Open still uses line judges. But the shift to camera based, AI-enhanced decision-making cuts deeper at Wimbledon, where up to 300 line judges have been a colourful part of the tournament's ensemble cast for the past 147 years. With protests outside the gates (albeit with tongue in cheek) and ambivalence among fans, there were also unexpected reactions from players to the changes. In the men's draw, Carlos Alcaraz and his first-round opponent Fabio Fognini were to be seen questioning the decision of the new system, apparently unaware that the ability to challenge a call is another tradition now consigned to the past. In the women's draw, meanwhile, Chinese player Yuan Yue complained the new system was too quiet for her to hear its decision. 'The voice, I cannot really hear it, it is a bit too low', she said. 'So I asked the referee can you [turn] it up a little bit. He said he cannot. He said he will try to let us know [the call] because he has a machine that can look it up. I don't really mind, I just want to hear it clearly. [The umpire's] voice is a lot more loud than the automatic one so we can hear that clear. Other tournaments don't really have this problem.' The electronic line-call system was developed by Hawk-Eye and uses AI to analyse footage from up to 18 cameras tracking the progress of the ball across the court. If a serve is wide, or a forehand too long, manufacturers say the software will issue a notification within a tenth of a second. In a unique Wimbledon twist, those calls are then vocalised using recordings of the voices of staff from the All England Club. That can lead to an unusual experience in watching the play, or even competing in it. On court 18 during Cameron Norrie's first-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut, any declaration of 'fault' used the voice of a (forceful) ball boy, whereas 'out' calls were announced in the voices of adults, both male and female. In the lower courts there was also the a sense of disembodied calls floating between matches. Britain's Sonay Kartal lost a point at the Australian Open in January after she reacted to a call from a different court. Following her three-set victory over Jelena Ostapenko, however, she declared the conditions 'perfectly fine', though she echoed Yuan's concerns. 'I hit a few shots that were at a pretty big moment and the crowd kind of went nuts, so maybe I lost it a bit in that', she said. Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Club, said the new system attempts to strike a typical balance between modernity and tradition. 'For us, it was time to make that change', she said. 'It's not a money-saving exercise, the technology investment we've had to make to deliver electronic line calling is not insignificant. It's about evolving the tournament and making sure that we're providing the most effective possible line calling. 'The line judges have been such an important part of the championships for so many years, and we obviously hugely appreciate the service that they've provided. Quite a few of them, around 80, are still with us as match assistants in a new role, supporting the chair umpire.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Verdicts from the spectators were largely sceptical. Though some had missed the changes altogether, many were grateful for the continued use of animated graphics on tight line calls, now known as 'close calls', despite the end of the challenge system. Others, however, missed the simple pleasure of watching someone standing stock still at the back of a court, their eyes focused determinedly on a single point. 'You're essentially removing the history and replacing it with a slightly robotic animated voice. It's all a bit numbing,' said James from Ipswich, taking advantage of the shade underneath Centre Court mid-afternoon. 'Everything is getting more accurate, but we're losing the human drama. I miss the theatre of seeing someone staring down the line like that.' Less nuanced views were also available. The deputy leader of Reform, Richard Tice, was up posting about electronic line calls at 6.30am on Monday and he was not happy. 'We want our country back. We want Wimbledon line judges back. Enough is enough,' he wrote on X.
BBC News
41 minutes ago
- BBC News
Impressive Rew hits England U19s' fastest century
Second youth one-day international, Northampton India Under-19s 290 all out (49 overs): Malhotra 49 (68); French 4-71England Under-19s 291-9 (49.3 overs): Rew 131 (89); Ambrish 4-80England won by one wicketScorecard Somerset 17-year-old Thomas Rew hit the fastest one-day century for England Under-19s as they levelled their 50-over series against India with a tense one-wicket win in captain Rew made a sublime 131 from 89 balls, an innings packed full of effortless strokeplay, to break the back of a chase of 291 with England winning with three balls to dismissal in the 40th over was the first of five lost for 49, leaving final pair Seb Morgan and Alex French to get 12 from 11 while Morgan showed superb nerve to end 20 not out - he hit a four to seal the win halfway through the final over - the match will be best remembered for the innings of diminutive right-hander Rew, the younger brother of recent England call-up come in at 47-3, Rew reached three figures in 73 balls - six deliveries quicker than Ben Foakes, who held the record after his century against New Zealand in put on 123 in 128 balls with Rocky Flintoff, the son of England legend Andrew, who was England's next highest scorer with 39 off 68. Rew targeted the leg side against India's spinners with powerful pulls and slog sweeps while also playing an inventive reverse sweep for four, a glorious drive high over long-on off leg-spinner Mohammed Enaan for six and taking seamer RS Ambrish for 19 runs in one over with off-side while his highly-rated brother has scored 10 first-class centuries by the age of 21, he did not score a century at Under-19 level, meaning the younger sibling has pipped him to that mark."There is a lot of competition in our family," Rew said. "He messaged me just now saying 'well done' which is nice of him."It is up there [with the best innings he has played]. Once I got going I targeted the short boundary and tried to put the pressure back on the bowlers. "The way Rocky spoke to me and we batted together, really helped us get on the front foot."Rew joined Somerset's academy in 2023, a year after his brother, now 21, made his first-class who has said Thomas is "further ahead" than him at the same age, was named the Professional Cricket Association's men's young player of the year in 2023, having become Somerset's youngest double centurion earlier that was called into England's squad for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe earlier this year but did not five-match series continues at Northampton on Suryavanshi, the 14-year-old who hit a century in the Indian Premier League earlier this year, also made 45 in India's 290 all out. Surrey seamer French took 4-71 for England. England U19s fastest Youth ODI hundreds 73 balls - Thomas Rew v India, Northampton, 202579 balls - Ben Foakes v New Zealand, Townsville, 201280 balls - Tom Alsop v South Africa, Nottingham, 201481 balls - Will Rhodes v Pakistan, Sleaford, 201384 balls - Harry Brook v Bangladesh, Queenstown, 2018
