ONE SUB sank another as England's U-21s began their Toulon Tournament campaign last night. A goal by French substitute Louis Saha 11 minutes from time denied Peter Taylor's side a victory that would have been largely due to the heroics of Tranmere keeper Steve Simonsen, only playing because first-choice Richard Wright was in Nationwide play-off action for Ipswich last night. Emile Heskey gave England a shock lead after 11 minutes in this Group A game. Frank Lampard's through ball found Jason Euell and his low cross to the far post found Leicester's Emile Heskey who stabbed in from close range. A few minutes later, England had a glorious opportunity to increase their lead when Euell was put through on goal, but a tame shot was saved by keeper Michael Landreau. Taylor's youngsters were then grateful for Simonsen, who produced an athletic save when a shot bounced awkwardly just inside the post. That was a taste of what was to come, however, as France laid siege to the England penalty area in the second half. Simonsen produced an excellent save to palm out a deflected shot and Saha saw his shot from close range cleared off the line by Liverpool's Jamie Carragher. But the French pressure eventually told and they equalised after 79 minutes when Saha wriggled his way into the England penalty box and, despite being off balance, hit his shot past the advancing Simonsen. England then almost snatched victory when a Heskey shot hit the bar and Euell, following up, saw his shot well saved. Taylor was upbeat after the game, saying: ''I was quite pleased with the first half where we played it short and through the middle of the park. I got a bit frustrated when we started hitting it long but in the second half France had a go at us. They showed some real pace and caused us a few problems. Overall they created more chances and we were a little bit lucky in the end. Emile Heskey is getting better with every game and he is a classy player. There were a lot of players who had to dig in.'' Argentina defeated South Africa 1-0 in the other game in England's group. THE Republic of Ireland will join England in July's UEFA Under-18 Youth Championship finals in Cyprus after a 2-0 win over Greece at Dublin's Tolka Park wrapped up an aggregate 3-0 victory. The Irish made their place among the eight finalists certain when Sheffield Wednesday's Alan Quinn grabbed the lead on the night with an opportunist 76th minute goal set up by Liverpool's Richie Partridge. Then, in the third minute of injury time, Greek defender Evangelos Nastos put through his own goal following a cross by Swansea's Ryan Casey.

TAYLOR STITCHED UP IN TOULON   ENGLAND Under-21 boss Peter Taylor was forced to shuffle his pack for England's first game of this year's Toulon Tournament against France in Nimes. Tottenham's Stephen Clemence saw his tournament end before he had kicked a ball as he was forced to return home when an ankle injury failed to respond to treatment. Taylor was already without several key players through injury. Sidelined are Aston Villa's Lee Hendrie, Danny Murphy of Liverpool, Matt Jansen of Crystal Palace, Oxford's Paul Powell, Southampton's Kevin Davies, Wimbledon's Carl Cort and Mark Tyler of Peterborough. The Under-21s are also missing Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen, who are involved in England's World Cup preparations. Midfield responsibility will now fall on the shoulders of West Ham's Frank Lampard. An impressive season for the Hammers has pushed the 19-year-old Londoner to the verge of Glenn Hoddle's full squad. Lampard has also been given the captain's armband for the tournament in the absence of former skipper Riccardo Scimeca. Taylor said: "Frank enjoys training and has done very well in the Premiership. He deserves to be captain and I'd like him to score goals for us like he has done for West Ham. Lampard will lead the England youngsters on to games against South Africa in Aubagne on Saturday and Argentina in Manosque two days later. Taylor is clearly looking forward to the challenge and added: "Playing in Toulon against foreign opposition of the quality of Argentina is experience you can't get anywhere else." The England squad is boosted for the match against South Africa by the arrival of Ipswich duo Richard Wright and Kieron Dyer. But Goalkeeper Wright will find it difficult to walk back into the team after his replacement, Tranmere's Steve Simonsen, pulled off a series of superb saves to restrict the French to just one goal in Nimes. Another problem for Taylor is the weather. England touched down in 30-degree centigrade heat on Thursday morning.

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