England fall to defeat in final warm-up game before Women’s World Cup

With just five days to go until the Women’s World Cup kicks off in France, England lost 1-0 against New Zealand in their final warm-up game.

The Lionesses were the better side in the first half, creating the majority of the chances and having the majority of possession but they were unable to capitalise on their chances.

It was a disappointing result for Phil Neville’s side in front of a 20,076 crowd at Brighton’s Amex Stadium.

The defeat was England’s second in four games of their ‘Road to France’ series. England were also beaten in April with a 1-0 loss to Canada but were victorious over Spain and Denmark.

New Zealand took their best chance of the game when Sarah Gregorius poked home on the rebound after Carly Telford spilled Rosie White’s shot, amid some slack England defending.

England’s first match at the World Cup is against arch-rivals Scotland and Scottish-born New Zealand coach Tom Sermanni will no doubt have taken extra satisfaction from the victory.