Lewis Orford made his first England U19s appearance last night for Will Antwi’s Young Lions, wearing the captain's armband for the final 15 minutes in their 2-1 defeat against Portugal.
Although he was due to make his debut for Antwi’s U19s last month, Orford was forced to pull out of September’s internationals through injury. Continuing to impress at Club level, Orford, who currently leads Premier League 2 in assists, and Fin Herrick, with three clean sheets in six matches, have both been instrumental in guiding West Ham to third place, level on points with the leaders.
Their strong form at club level earned the two young Hammers a well-deserved recall for England’s October internationals.
Last night, Orford played his first England minutes since captaining England U18s to Tri-Nations cup success in May against Morocco. The 18-year-old came on in the 65th minute replacing Chelsea’s Kiano Dyer as part of a five-man substitution, and took over the captain's armband from Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri when the forward was substituted ten minutes later. While on the pitch, the Young Lions pulled one back from the penalty spot through Nwaneri, but Portugal’s defence held firm, preserving their 2-1 lead thanks to first-half strikes from João Simões and Gil Martins.
Herrick, who has represented England at U16s, U17s and U18s, made his U19s debut for coach Antwi’s side last month in a 2-2 draw against Italy and will be looking to be given the nod between the sticks in their next two internationals.
The young Hammers duo’s next international fixture comes on Saturday where they will face Netherlands at the Banus Football Centre as they ramp up preparations for next month’s UEFA Euro U19 Qualifiers.
