The Republic of Ireland Women’s Under-16s fell to a 3-0 defeat to England at the RSC in Waterford in an international friendly game.

For what was the second of two games inside a week, both teams made several changes to their starting line-ups in order to give every player a chance of featuring.

England took the lead inside the opening 10 minutes when a ball into Ireland's penalty area wasn't cleared and Ginny Lackey, a powerful centre forward, blasted in from close range.

Ireland tried to respond with their best effort coming from Joy Ralph, whose shot from distance struck the crossbar and rattled the visitors going in at the interval.

Within seconds of the restart, Lia O'Leary looked to make an impact as she broke down the left wing and made her way into the penalty area before striking a shot against the foot of the post.

Ireland were looking lively, particularly on that left side with Tara O'Hanlon making supporting runs forward, while Orlaith O'Mahony and Aoife Kelly worked hard at closing space in midfield and linking play with their passing.

On the hour mark, England were awarded a penalty and a chance to increase their lead, but Lackey went for power and her effort crashed back off the crossbar.

They didn't waste their next chance though as Kiera Barry beat the offside trap when racing clear and drilled a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Katie Keane.

Substitute Rola Olusola had a great chance to pull one back for Ireland when collecting the ball inside the penalty area but the Galway WFC ace saw her effort drift just over the bar.

The game was over on 88 minutes when a free-kick from England struck the crossbar and landed perfectly for Jessica Simpson to convert their third goal.

Despite the result, Head Coach Tom Elmes will be pleased with the overall performance. In fact, he will take a lot from this camp as the team trained at the new sports facility in IT Carlow and produced a lot of positive play over the two games.

Republic of Ireland: Keane; Corcoran (Law 57), Fitzpatrick (Dossen 46), Fleming, O'Hanlon (Olusola 71); Ralph (Thompson 57), O'Mahony, Kelly (O'Sullivan 68), Long (O'Leary 46); Flanagan (O'Brien 46); Larkin (Loughery 68).

England: Poulter; Flannery, Dodfrey, Rabjohn, Milne, Lackey, Smith, Barry, Clarke, Surin, Wilson.

Referee: Claire Purcell.