CHERRIES defender Baily Cargill netted a late goal but was denied the perfect England under-20s debut as Canada struck in injury-time to snatch a 2-2 draw.

The 19-year-old put England 2-1 in front at Dean Court when he nodded home Matt Grimes’s corner with four minutes left.

But two minutes into injury-time, Canucks substitute Jordan Hamilton slammed home after England had failed to deal with a free kick.

Elevated to the Cherries first team this season, Cargill was one of three outfield England players not to be substituted and the centre-half did his prospects of selection against Portugal in Coimbra next week no harm.

Despite a positive start by the hosts, Canada came close to an early goal when Kianz Frose nudged a delicate through ball in behind and his fellow midfielder Manny Aparicio – a team-mate of Jermain Defoe at Toronto – poked just wide of the left post.

Rob Gale’s men were made to regret that miss soon after. Urged to shoot when a corner was not cleared, John Swift instead picked out skipper Lewis Baker on the left flank, with the Chelsea midfielder’s near-post cross knocked into the net by the predatory Akpom.

Froese saw his drilled effort deflect harmlessly behind for a corner and after England right-back Shay Facey was forced off injured, another delivery from Swift proved a fraction too deep for Akpom.

The Arsenal man missed a gilt-edged chance to double the lead in the 36th minute. Baker spread the ball wide to Ball and the substitute’s in-swinging delivery was on a plate for Akpom, but he nodded over from a central position.

Dylan Carreiro tested Christy Pym with a rasping drive which the England stopper did well to cling on to, before Cargill was given his second central defensive partner of the night when Jones succumbed to injury.

Following the resumption, Southampton’s midfielder Harrison Reed had keeper Marco Carducci at full stretch to palm over his curling effort from 20 yards and Baker could not convert from the resulting corner.

Canada’s efforts had been more than competitive and they got their reward in the 48th minute when from Aparicio’s pass, Petrasso sprinted inside off the left wing and coolly slotted under Pym at full pelt.

Sadi Jalali stung the palms of Pym with a vicious effort soon after as the Canucks made it clear they did not intend to give their hosts an easy ride.

England under-20s boss Aidy Boothroyd made a quadruple substitution on the hour and the contest became bitty in the final 30 minutes.

Kwame Thomas went close with a quarter of an hour left and Cargill headed wide from an acute angle.

In a dramatic finale, Cargill powered home a superb near-post header before Hamilton blasted home the equaliser, much to the displeasure of the England supporters.

Admitting to mixed feelings after the full-time whistle, Cargill said: “I’m pretty disappointed that we conceded so late on. Once we got the goal I thought we should have held firm and won the game.

“If my goal had been the winning goal it would have been the best way possible for us to win the game.

“Scoring for England was the best feeling I’ve ever had but it got a bit dampened when they went up the other end and scored.”

England under-20s: Pym; Facey (Ball, 23), Jones (Hause, 45), Cargill, Targett (Reed, h-t); Baker (Murphy, 61); Grimes, Digby, Harrop (Thomas, 60), Swift (Ibe, 60); Akpom (Wilson, 61). Unused subs: Walton (gk), Wildsmith (gk).

Canada under-20s: Carducci; Haynes, Gasparotto, Comsia, Adekugbe (Serban, 90); Gagnon-Laparé, Froese (Beland-Goyette, 83); Aparicio (Bustos, 75), Carreiro (Boakai, 90), Petrasso; Jalali (Hamilton, 76).

Unused subs: Aleksic, Wirth (g/k) Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire) Attendance: 6,986