Lionesses' win 'insane' says fan sat behind goal

Maisie Fairweather Prescott (right) with her friend Flo celebrate after England score an equaliser in their match against Italy

An England football superfan said being behind the goal when the Lionesses scored their Euro 25 semi-final equaliser was an "insane" moment.

Maisie Fairweather Prescott, 23, from Norfolk, has attended all of England's matches of the European Women's Championship being held in Switzerland.

The Lionesses beat Italy 2-1 in the semi-final in Geneva on Tuesday when Michelle Agyemang scored in the sixth minute of added time, and Chloe Kelly scored from her rebounded penalty in extra time.

Ms Fairweather Prescott, from Drayton, had an unobstructed view and said: "It was insane, obviously being so close. "

Maisie Fairweather Prescott (left) said she would be at the final on Sunday

The teaching assistant said she had managed to attend all the England games in the tournament due to being on a zero-hours contract which allowed her to pick and choose her shifts, but she had returned home twice to work to top up her finances.

Describing the atmosphere in the ground before the first England goal, Ms Fairweather Prescott said: "We did kind of lose hope a little bit, which we've never really done before.

"But as soon Michelle came on, we kind of knew something might happen."

She added it was a "very stressful" watch especially as the team had a similar nail-biting finish in their quarter final win over Sweden.

"We went into the game quite confident, and then to struggle as much as we did, hopefully it's made us stronger... we'll absolutely smash it in the final."

She said the decision to play substitutes Kelly and Agyemang later in the match paid off.

Describing fans' reaction to Kelly's firing in the rebound from her own missed penalty, she said: "We just went crazy, and I think at that point we knew we were through.

"I just felt very proud, very kind of smug as we had some Italians sat in the England section."

Lauren Hemp helped set up the Agyemang goal while her cross led to the foul that gave England a penalty

England player Lauren Hemp is from North Walsham - about 15 miles by road from Drayton.

Hemp played when the team beat the Republic of Ireland in a Euros qualifier at Norwich City's Carrow Road last year.

"I think in this tournament she's shown how valuable she is to England," said Ms Fairweather Prescott.

"She's an amazing player and you can tell how hard she worked on the pitch to play 120 minutes."

She added that she was now on her way to Zurich to watch England play either Spain or Germany in their third straight major final on Sunday.

"I'm hoping it's a 2-0 win for us, but I don't think I can take going through to extra time and penalties again," she said.