Chelsea’s Kirby shines in England training match

Chelsea attacker Fran Kirby starred as the England Home team defeated the England Away team 3-0 in an ’11v11′ friendly match at St George’s Park this evening.

Ellen White netted a brace for the Home team while Ella Toone was also on target in Burton upon Trent.

The first decent opportunity came the way of Alessia Russio for the Home side. The Manchester United striker was played through by Kirby and was left one-on-one with the keeper but the latter’s club teammate Niamh Charles recovered well and Russo could only get a tame effort away which Hannah Hampton dealt with comfortably. They eventually took the lead when Kirby once again played the ball in behind this time for White who buried her first time finish to make it 1-0.

The Away side had a very good chance of their own when the ball dropped to Beth England 10 yards from goal but her snapshot with her left foot was dragged narrowly wide of Sandy MacIver’s left hand post. They were made to rue that missed opportunity when a cross from deep was fumbled by Birmingham City goalkeeper Hampton and White doubled her side’s lead with an instinctive finish.

The Away team had an early opportunity after the interval again falling to forward England. It was another dropping ball, this time onto her right but it was difficult to get power and placement on the finish and MacIver was able to push the ball away from danger. The Home side then had a chance of their own when the ball found Izzy Christiansen but the Everton midfielder could only blaze the ball over the bar.

They did have their third goal when Kirby picked out substitute Toone in the area and the Manchester United youngster headed home with her first touch of the game. It was the midfielder’s first-ever call to the senior squad and she couldn’t have made a better first impression.

The Away team then reacted strongly, the newly-introduced Rinsola Babajide provided possibly the closest opportunity of the match when she powered into the box and her low driven cross was nearly turned into her own net by Grace Fisk.

MacIver then came to the rescue when a powerful close-range header from Steph Houghton was kept out by the keeper before it landed at the feet of England. Once again, the usually ruthless striker dragged her effort wide.

The game drew to a close with the Away side unable to get onto the scoresheet as the match finished 3-0.

Manager Phil Neville will be disappointed with the finishing from the side in red, however, the return to form of attacker Kirby will be a huge plus. The diminutive Chelsea player was the standout performer of the game in spite of White’s brace. He will also be impressed by the displays from some of the new arrivals into the England fold especially Russo and Charles who both looked sharp from the off.

It was a mixed bag for the Lionesses on the whole and there is certainly areas of much-needed improvement, however, the positives probably outweigh the negatives.