Northern Ireland U17s concluded their UEFA U17 Euro 2025 qualifying campaign with defeat to hosts and group winners England at St. George's Park.
Competition
UEFA U17 Euro 2025 Qualifiers – Elite Round
Scoreline
England U17s 5-0 Northern Ireland U17s
Scorers
England: Finlay Gorman (7, 26'), Rio Ngumoha (19', 64'), Max Dowman (31')
Venue
St George’s Park, Pitch 6
Date
25 March 2025
Team News
Northern Ireland’s Men’s Under-17 team are competing in U17 Euro 2025 Elite Round qualifiers this month at St George’s Park, the FA’s national training centre in Staffordshire.
For the third and concluding game in Group A7 head coach Andy Waterworth largely kept faith with the starting XI that lost narrowly to a last minute goal to Israel in the last game, drafting in Noah McDonnell and George Feeney to replace Cead McGrath and Ceadach O'Neill.
Troy Savage retained the captain's armband.
How it happened
Northern Ireland's young team will see this as a valuable learning experience. They faced an England side who started strongly, opening the scoring on seven minutes when Finlay Gorman was teed up by Ryan McAidoo to find the top left corner.
Reigan Heskey, son of Emile, hit the woodwork ten minutes after that just before Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha did double England's lead with an effort into the bottom corner.
There was almost a third midway through the first half when Arsenal's Max Dowman also struck the woodwork but just sixty seconds after that Ngumoha turned provider as Gorman's volley extended the home advantage.
But Dowman wasn't to be denied just after the half-hour mark when, just after producing a save from keeper Finn McDonnell he was found by Gorman to knock home England's fourth.
Half-time: England U17s 4-0 Northern Ireland U17s
The hosts continued to press after the break, with Gorman becoming the third player to send an effort against the woodwork just before hour.
Ngumoha then doubled his tally for the evening midway through the second half thanks to a contribution from substitute Louis Page.
Having made three changes at the break, Waterworth then made another two substitutions after Ngumoha's second goal with one of these, Kalum Thompson, almost having an immediate impact when he produced a stop from keeper Lanre Awesu.
It was a difficult end to the campaign for Waterworth's side, but they can be proud of their efforts having matched both Slovenia and Israel in their previous two outings.
Speaking after the game, Waterworth hailed the performances of his young side in the group.
"It was a tough night at the office, but ultimately one that will stand in good stead for the future.
"Our performances against Slovenia and Israel were exceptional. And, in facing England tonight, we really faced the best of the best and one of the strongest teams at this level I have ever come across.
"Getting to the Elite Rounds mean we face top class opposition which in turn makes us better players and a better team. This is a good group with some really strong players in it and full credit to them."
Full-time: England U17s 5-0 Northern Ireland U17s
Line-ups:
England U17s: Lanre Awesu, Jun'ai Byfield, Chinazaekpere Nwosu, Freddie Simmonds, Dean Benamar, Ryan McAidoo, Max Dowman, Finlay Gorman, Rio Mgumoha, Bradley Burrowes, Reigan Heskey
Substitutes: (used) Kaden Braithwaite, Louis Page, Alejandro Rodriguez, Harry Howell; (unused) Jack Porter, Malachi Hardy, Seth Ridgeon
Northern Ireland U17s: Finn McDonnell, Ben Wilson, Callum Leacock, Noah McDonnell, Calum Anderson, Coist Walker, Troy Savage (captain), Matthew Burns, George Feeney, Paul McGovern, Joel Kerr
Substitutes: (used) Oisin Gamble, Brandon Downey, Jack Faloona, Christopher Atherton, Kalum Thompson; (unused) Corey Sheridan, Cead McGrath
