LIONS BOAST MAGIC TOUCH

Harwood-Bellis grabs more glory and lauds his band of brothers

-  Keith Webster

ENGLAND U21 - 1
SPAIN U21 - 0

TAYLOR Harwood-Bellis is making winning a good habit but until he laid his hands on the Under-21s Euros trophy, he could not believe it was true.

The Manchester City defender spent last season on loan with Vincent Kompany's revolution at Burnley, winning the Championship in April.

But having lifted a trophy at club level, the 21-year-old had to wait just a few more weeks to do it for his country as he captained England to Euro U21 glory on Saturday night against Spain in Georgia.

A night of high drama saw Cole Palmer's free-kick deflect off Curtis Jones for the only goal with the last kick of the first half.

The Young Lions conceded a penalty in second-half stoppage time only for James Trafford to save from Abel Ruiz, and then save the follow-up as well, to clinch victory. Cue Harwood-Bellis's moment as he stepped forward to receive the trophy.

"It didn't feel real until I got my hands on it," he said. "But the lads had been talking about it and it felt like it was our time to do it.

"With our history, there was a lot of pressure on us to do well, and I'm buzzing, not just for me but all of the lads and the coaching staff. It's one big family and it feels like a club. Everyone deserves it and we'll celebrate together.

"Traff will get a lot of credit, which he thoroughly deserves, but it's down to all the team.

"Even the lads who didn't play too many minutes, but played against Germany who are a top team, so it's not easy to keep a clean sheet against them."

Like so many of Lee Carsley's squad, HarwoodBellis is in demand. And many of them will have done their prospects a power of good in front of watching senior squad manager, Gareth Southgate.