England Women lose to New Zealand in World Cup warm-up

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England Women suffered a 1-0 defeat to New Zealand in their final World Cup warm-up match at Brighton on Saturday.

England, who fly to France for the tournament next week, are aiming to win the trophy for the first time but were beaten by a Sarah Gregorius goal early in the second half.

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Coach Phil Neville made 10 changes from last weekend's 2-0 win over Denmark, with only forward Nikita Parris retaining her place.

He saw his side enjoy prolonged spells of pressure but fail to engineer a breakthrough at the Amex Stadium, with Jodie Taylor appealing in vain for an early penalty after a challenge from keeper Erin Nayler.

Taylor then tried to lift a delicate finish over Nayler but saw the effort saved before New Zealand came back into the game and Carly Telford saved from Betsy Hassett just before the interval.

And the visitors found the decisive goal five minutes after the restart when Telford parried a Rosie White strike and Gregorius snapped up the rebound.

Lucy Staniforth sent a free kick over before Neville brought on Jill Scott and Karen Carney and the latter forced a save from Nayler.

England begin their World Cup campaign against Scotland in Nice on June 9.