Source: Eurosport
Young England Fall To French
England Under-21s lost 2-0 to their French counterparts in Tuesday night's friendly international at Nottingham Forest's City Ground.[LNB]France dominated and took a deserved lead midway through the first half when the ball broke kindly to Gabriel Obertan on the edge of the area and the FC Lorient midfielder struck a first-time shot into the bottom corner.[LNB]Moussa Sissoko doubled France's advantage 10 minutes before the break, exquisitely lifting the ball over Joe Hart as the Manchester City keeper raced from his line.[LNB]Meanwhile a goal from Chris Casement capped a rousing fightback by Northern Ireland Under-21s and gave them a 1-1 draw with their Ukraine counterparts at Portadown.[LNB]The Wycombe defender got on the end of a flick from Jonny Taylor following a free-kick by Martin Donnelly to head home in the 71st minute.[LNB]It was no more than Steve Beaglehole's side deserved for a fine second-half display in front of a healthy home crowd.[LNB]Ukraine took the lead in the 36th minute from the penalty spot after Scott Gibb was penalised by referee Lee Evans for a challenge on Roman Zozulia.[LNB]Levgenenii Konoplianka showed good composure to send goalkeeper Trevor Carson the wrong way from the spot.[LNB]But the visitors, who managed a draw against European Championship finalists Serbia last week, found themselves on the back foot for most of the second half before Casement's deserved equaliser.[LNB]
