England U19 headed into their final game of the group stage in Group B of the U19 European Championship knowing that they needed a win against the dominant Netherlands, who have already confirmed their spot in the knockout stages of the tournament in Romania.
The contest started off very equal through the opening stages; however, the first real chance fell at Ethan Wheatley's feet after the striker found himself through on goal before Joeri Heerkens' spectacular save kept the score level.
However, the Dutch were the first to strike after Kasper Boogaard's short corner saw Kees Smit let it rip with a wonderful strike from the edge of the box, which Arsenal youth keeper Tommy Setford could do nothing about. The Netherlands then doubled their lead just past the half-hour mark after a well-worked move opened up England's defence before Zepiqueno Redmond scored with a low strike that could perhaps have been saved by Setford. They then grabbed their third goal after Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink scored after an erroneous block from Zach Abbott fell right in his path.
England came out strong in the second half of the clash as Wheatley almost managed to peg one goal back before he actually did so on the back of a spectacular run by Kadan Young. However, their joy was somewhat short-lived as the Netherlands regained control of the clash immediately after, with Redmond grabbing his brace around the 70th minute of the game to reinstate his side's three-goal lead. The Dutch almost found their fifth goal of the game around the 80-minute mark after a deflected shot from Kasper Boogaard. England did manage to grab a consolation goal in injury time as Shumaira Mheuka's deflected shot ended up in the back of the goal.
The Young Lions are out.