England leave Junior World Cup empty-handed

ENGLAND agonisingly missed out on a medal at the Junior World Cup after losing 2-1 to double world champions Korea in the bronze medal match.

With neither side scoring in the first half, Korea broke the deadlock six minutes after the break with Seul Ki Cheon scoring from a penalty corner - her seventh goal of the tournament.

But Craig Parnham's side were not to be deterred and Jenny Hall scored a deserved equaliser after 53 minutes.

Dilly Newton's penalty corner strike forced Korean goalkeeper Eunbee Cho to make the save, but Hall was first to react to poke the ball over the line.  

Hall might have had another just seconds later, but her reverse stick flick went agonisingly over the crossbar.

And despite dominating the match, England were made to pay when Dayoung Kim fired home the winner with ten minutes to play.

The two sides had previously met in the group stages of the tournament, where a late Korea goal denied England victory - but there was not to be a similar outcome this time round and England left Boston empty handed.

The fourth place finish represents the best ever result for England's U21 women in the competition, but assistant coach Martin Rodgers admits they were made to rue their missed chances.  

"We're disappointed in light of how much of the ball we had and the number of chances we created but we didn't take those chances today," said Rodgers.

"Of course the girls are disappointed at the moment but we'll look back on this later and be proud of what we have achieved here."