Lionesses Cruise to First Ever Home Win with 5-1 Defeat of Slovakia as Booth & Kural Grab Braces
Starring roles from Lailah Booth & Kirstie Kural helped England shake off first game defeat as they cruised to victory against Slovakia at Loughborough on Friday
Image Credit: Becca Taylor - IG @beccataylor.photography
An early opener from Lionesses captain Emma Tune was followed by braces from Kirstie Kural & Lailah Booth as England wrote another chapter into their growing history on Friday morning at Loughborough University, with a dominant 5-2 win over Slovakia.
After debuting in Moldova in 2024 for the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup qualifiers, then travelling to Lithuania in March for the UEFA Futsal Women’s Euro qualifiers in their second international engagement, International Futsal Week provided Sion Kitson’s side the perfect opportunity to perform in front of a home crowd for the very first time.
Speaking to the crowd at full time, Player of the Match, Kural, said:
“For us to have the chance to play on our home court again today after losing so narrowly yesterday was fantastic. The loss cut deep and we had to regroup ourselves for today. I feel like we could’ve won both games and we’ve put on two excellent performances.”
How it all unfolded
Two excellent performances they were. But after conceding set pieces in frustrating style in Thursday’s opener, Friday’s display put those frustrations to bed.
Captain Tune had England in the lead after just a couple of minutes, perfectly positioned at the back post to turn home a low drive from goalkeeper Alicia Grimmond, who had stepped out to create the overload.
Slovakia equalised shortly after, but it was not long before Booth put her country back in front with a stylish finish. Kate McGreavy’s kick-in from the right flank was met by Booth on an angle as she passed it with composure into the near top corner from six yards out, before turning away to pump her fists in delight towards the jubilant home crowd.
England were playing with confidence now and just before half-time the finisher-in-chief, Kural, had her say. McGreavy was provider again as she struck a low ball towards the back post where Kural produced an outrageous piece of skill to flick the ball off the back of her heel and through the Slovakian goalkeeper’s legs to make it 3-1.
The second half saw England begin to enjoy themselves, with the likes of Kerry Walklett, Sophie Harvey and Ali Miller all dominating their 1v1 duels and giving the crowd plenty to get behind.
Booth added her second with a cool finish that deflected into the bottom corner following a well-weighted pass from McGreavy who, after becoming the first-ever Lionesses home goalscorer, now adds a hat-trick of assists to her international career achievements.
Kural completed the scoring for England late on, bundling the ball over the line after a goalmouth scramble to make it 5-1 and five goals in her last five England appearances, after bagging 3 in March’s Euro qualifiers.
Slovakia pulled one back in the closing stages but it was all too little too late, and as the full-time whistle blew, the England players were finally able to go and celebrate a victory with their fans, in their own back yard.
The first of many, no doubt, in the years to come.
On behalf of all of us at England Futsal, we would like to extend a huge thank you to Slovakia for travelling over and being part of this special week with us. We wish all involved a safe journey home.
Image Credit: Ben Ellison - IG @benpanna_media
