Fortune smiles on Blake's England

Substitute Matthew Phillips headed England's equaliser deep into added time as Noel Blake's side clung on for a UEFA European Under-19 Championship semi-final place, though a 1-0 defeat would have seen them through anyway.

The Wycombe Wanderers FC man rose to head the ball through the hands of France goalkeeper Abdoulaye Diallo to cancel out Yannis Tafer's 56th-minute header in Saint-Lo, although Austria's 1-0 win against the Netherlands meant that Noel Blake's side were through regardless. They will meet Group B winners Spain in the last four, while Group A winners France will face tournament debutants Croatia.

France coach Francis Smericki had rested his captain Gueïda Fofana and key defender Chris Mavinga and did not introduce the sparkling Antoine Griezmann until the latter stages, but France looked a match for England. Declan Rudd saved from Enzo Reale early on and was lucky to deny Cédric Bakambu later, while a Nathan Delfouneso shot that drew a good low save from Diallo was England's best effort of the opening period.

France emerged invigorated after the break; a Tafer shot was deflected wide almost straight from the restart, with Nathaniel Clyne blocking Gaëtan Bussmann's header on the line from the resulting corner. Clément Grenier then capped a typically fleet-footed counterattack with a venomous long-range shot which clipped the outside of the post.

Played in by Ryan Donaldson, Delfouneso seemed to have missed his cue on 53 minutes, shooting wide with just Diallo to beat. It looked like a costly miss minutes later when Olympique Lyonnais striker Tafer nodded into an unguarded net after Gilles Sunu's pull-back from the by-line following a run of quick passes.

With Steven Caulker then having a header blocked on the line by Bakambu, and Diallo twice denying Delfouneso, it looked like England's luck was out. As it was, the fates were conspiring in their favour, with a late Marco Djuricin penalty giving Austria the lead against the Netherlands and taking England to second place in the section even before Phillips' late effort.