Liverpool's Missy Bo Kearns was on target as England's Young Lionesses romped to a "magical" 4-1 victory over Belgium in front of 1,305 fans at Prenton Park.
The Under-23s, who went into Monday's clash off the back of a goalless draw with Spain, put in an impressive team performance against the Belgian Red Flames but it was Kearns - alongside Everton forward Aggie Beever-Jones - who deservedly earned most of the plaudits for a scintillating display on Merseyside.
It was the latter that helped get England off the mark; the 19-year-old driving forwards from the left and feeding the ball into the path of Kearns who made no mistake with a cool finish into the bottom corner.
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Belgium quickly restored parity through Anderlecht striker Maire Minnaert before Beever-Jones turned playmaker once again with an inch-perfect through ball for Angela Addison, who made it 2-1 with a lovely dinked finish. Goals from Anna Patten and Kiera Skeels capped off a comfortable victory for Mo Marley's side but, while she didn't get on the scoresheet, the England boss was particularly impressed with Beever-Jones' exploits on the left-wing.
"We wanted the girls to express themselves but play as a team," Marley said after the game. "We’ve got loads of players who can express themselves and Aggie is one of them.
"But I thought across the board people played the game plan but tried to produce a little bit of magic, we saw that with a couple of the goals, individual brilliance, it was great to see."
The former Everton manager was also delighted to see more than 1300 fans turn out to watch her side at Prenton Park.
"It’s brilliant and it’s all part of that transition up to the seniors," Marley said. "In a good way, it brings more expectation and that’s what we’re trying to do.
"We know that if they play for the seniors in the future they’re going to play in front of 90,000 at Wembley so obviously we’re grateful for the crowd to come out. When we tell the players the predicted figures for people coming, you can just see their eyes light up.
"Some of them are used to it now in the WSL so when they know there’s a big crowd they want to come out and put a show on and I’m glad they did that today for all the little boys and girls and their families who’ve come to watch."
It's been a busy few weeks for England's senior side, who are in pole position to retain the Arnold Clark Cup after dispatching both Korea Republic and Italy as they ramp up their preparations for this summer's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. And Marley believes Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman has had a big part to play in showing young players like Kearns and Beever-Jones they can make the step up to senior international football.
"We're really honest with them," Marley said. "It's hard because our seniors are so good. We’ve got so many good players up there but now we’re starting to make that transition.
"Because a number of their friends have gone up and delivered, they can see a progression. That's credit to Sarina. If they're playing well and their consistent then they’ll get their moment and they’ll get their opportunity."
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