Ballard hits hat-trick for England U19s
On-loan striker Dom Ballard scored an impressive hat-trick on international duty with England's Under-19s, as the Young Lions won the Marbella International Tournament
In a friendly tournament out in Spain, Simon Rusk's side faced Romania, Japan, and Mexico in the four-team competition.
Their camp began in style with a 6-0 victory over Romania as Ballard led the line for just over an hour.
In the second game, Saints' on-loan man was introduced off the bench in a tighter affair and went close to finding a winner with the scores locked at 2-2 against Japan.
He had an effort cleared off the line before England found a crucial stoppage-time goal to earn a 3-2 victory.
England, and Ballard, saved their most ruthless display for the final fixture against Mexico that ended in a crushing 7-1 win.
The Young Lions scored four goals in a ten minute spell in the first half, with Ballard playing a part in each of them.
The 18-year-old opened the scoring in the 21st minute as he converted a rebound from the Mexican goalkeeper, before he won the ball back from kick-off and teed up Tottenham's Jamie Donley to instantly double the lead.
Ballard's second goal came three minutes later with a shot that found the bottom corner from the edge of the area, before he completed his hat-trick just after the half hour.
England led 5-1 at the break and added two further goals in the second half to take home the trophy, as Ballard returns to League One side Reading with a positive international camp under his belt.
Ballard celebrates for England U19s.
Elsewhere on international duty this month, Jay Robinson played his part in England's progress to the next round of Under-17s EUROs qualifying.
Playing for the younger Under-17 age group, whilst fellow Academy stars Jayden Meghoma and Tyler Dibling were in action at the U17 World Cup, Robinson featured in an unbeaten qualifying round.
The 16-year-old was utilised off the bench as Greg Lincoln's side cruised past Faroe Islands (8-0), Kosovo (5-0), and Croatia (5-1) to advance to March's Elite Round of qualification ahead of next summer's tournament in Estonia.
