A LATE equaliser denied Winchester-born Bailey Cargill a dream England U20 debut victory over Canada at Bournemouth’s Goldsands Stadium last night.
Cherries ace Cargill, who enjoyed a loan stint at AFC Totton two seasons ago, looked to have bagged the winner when he headed home from a corner with five minutes to go to make it 2-1.
However, the Canadians came back and grabbed a stoppage time leveller through Jordan Hamilton.
Coach Aidy Boothroyd’s side, which featured Saints youngster Matt Targett in midfield, looked solid in the first half and took the lead on 15 minutes when Lewis Baker’s corner was only partially cleared and the ball landed at the feet of his Chelsea teammate John Swift on the edge of the box.
Swift lined up a shot but then feinted and spread the ball wide to Baker, whose near-post cross fell perfectly for Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom to head home.
Boothroyd shuffled his pack at half-time by bringing on Harrison Reed for his Southampton teammate Targett and Reed wasted no time getting in on the action, forcing a superb finger-tip save from Marco Carducci with a fierce drive from the edge of the area.
But Canada counter-attacked with great purpose down the right and QPR winger Michael Petrasso was allowed to race half the length of the pitch before slotting past Christy Pym to equalise.
Home favourite Cargill (pictured above), who had earlier made his intentions clear when he came close with a header from a partially cleared cross, put England into the lead late on with an emphatic header. But it was cancelled out when Pym failed to gather Hanson Boakal’s free-kick and Jordan Hamilton fired into the empty net.
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