Nordic trio bested by England

England's good form ahead of the first UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship edition next season continued as they won a four nations tournament in Finland.

Semi-finals
Lois Fidler's side, who won a strong six-sided event in the Netherlands in April, were in contention for this tournament along with the hosts, Norway and Sweden. In the semi-finals in Eerikkila, Finland met England and played out a 0-0 draw before the hosts were beaten 4-3 on penalties. Sweden then took on Norway, and went ahead on 31 minutes through Isabell Ejdeholm, and although Eirin Kleppe swiftly equalised, Sofia Jacobsson restored the lead early in the second half and struck again with 19 minutes left.

England success
The final games were held two days later in Vantaa, and Finland beat Norway 2-1 for third place, Janniche Linde's 34th-minute goal leaving the hosts trailing but Tiia Tikkanen and Satu Krus turning the game early in the second period. In the final, Sanna Franzén put Sweden in front late in the first half but Demi Stokes equalised late on and England showed their penalties prowess again to triumph 5-4.

'No shortage of confidence'
Fidler told TheFA.com: "The first game I felt that we didn't have enough quality in the final third but we worked on that and the second game saw a much bigger improvement. At the end of both games, there was no shortage of confidence when it came to taking penalties and it will have given the players a lot of heart to come home undefeated."

Further fixtures
The U17 qualifiers begin in autumn, with England meeting Russia, Slovakia and Georgia in Group 10, Sweden up against the Republic of Ireland, Moldova and Turkey in Group 6, Finland in Group 3 with Belgium, the Faroe Islands and Estonia and Norway facing Germany, Israel and Bulgaria in Group 9. More warm-up events follow this summer, including another competition in the Netherlands involving Sweden, Germany and Switzerland next week, and the annual Nordic Tournament in Norway from 30 June until 8 July.