England 1-1 Canada
By Adam Millington
at the Riverside Stadium

Sarina Wiegman’s England were held to a 1-1 draw in Middlesbrough as Canada battled back in their first game of the Arnold Clark Cup.

It was Millie Bright who opened the scoring in the first half with an excellent effort on the volley, but Manchester City’s Janine Beckie silenced the home supporters when she curled an inch-perfect shot into the top corner.

The Lionesses boss fielded a much-changed side with Ellen White benched, Leah Williamson playing as a sweeper and Alessia Russo leading the lines.

As such, with the lethargy of the Hege Riise period now well and truly behind England, they unleashed a newfound spirit and produced a fine attacking performance in the first half, with a level of intensity evident which hasn’t often been seen in recent years.

Canada head coach Bev Priestman, who is from County Durham and was previously assistant under Phil Neville, was full of praise for the hosts’ performance.

"England look more like the England I know,” she said. “They've got great players, great staff, and you'd expect that group to do really well at a Euros on home soil."

They secured the opener via a set piece when a short corner between Fran Kirby and Alex Greenwood, resulting in the latter’s cross being punched out by the Canadian goalkeeper, was turned in by centre-back Bright on the volley.

Bright said: “I think you can see the improvements as a squad. The first half we were excellent, the second half we were sloppy. We’re happy with the point.

“I want to be more of a threat on set pieces. I’m happy I could help the team.

“Our mentality is the same for every game. We are excited to play top teams.”

But the Lionesses’ lead would not last long, and Janine Beckie levelled the scoring in the second half when she took advantage of a well-placed ball and the space she was given to curl an inch-perfect effort past the onlooking Mary Earps.

Nevertheless, it was a strong all-round performance for England and sets the tone of this tournament being the perfect preparation they could have for this summer’s European Championships.

Even after the scores were drawn level, they battled on and should probably have been handed a penalty late on when Nikita Parris was fouled in the box, but the referee did not blow her whistle.

“I think this is the competitive match we needed,” Wiegman said of the performance. “We played very good first half but I thought we were sometimes a little sloppy. We created a lot of chances and we need to be more ruthless.

“It’s good to see how we reacted [to Beckie’s goal]. We lost too many balls in the second half.

“We need to be more tight and stay together. Bright and Hemp did well, I’m impressed.”