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Dad’s delight as Ebony Salmon makes her Lionesses bow

She might have only been on the pitch a few minutes, yet for Ebony Salmon’s family her senior England debut was a moment which will never be forgotten.

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Salmon was handed her bow off the bench late in the Lionesses’ emphatic 6-0 friendly win over Northern Ireland at St George’s Park yesterday afternoon, later describing the experience as a dream come true.

Watching on proudly from their Kingswinford home were parents Owen and Sarah Salmon, who have both played a key role in her route from promising youngster to England international.

Owen was Ebony’s coach when she began her journey in football playing alongside boys at Gornal Colts, the club where Sarah has been the long-time secretary.

“It was an unbelievable moment, watching Ebony run on the pitch to make her debut. There was a lot of emotion, obviously,” said Owen.

“It doesn’t matter how long she was on for. Whether it had been 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 50, the fact she is now a senior England international is incredible.”

Ellen White scored a hat-trick as England proved far too strong for the visitors.

Owen continued: “We settled down on the sofa to watch the game and I actually felt pretty calm for most of it.

“Because the dugouts were on the far side of the pitch, it was difficult to see precisely what was going on, who was warming up.

“Then suddenly there was a close-up shot and we could see Ebony was about to come on. I could barely believe it. It was all a blur. I actually took a couple of photos of the TV as a keepsake. It was such a proud moment for us.”

Ebony, on the books of Villa and Manchester United earlier in her career, was handed a first senior call-up earlier this month courtesy of her blistering form in this season’s Women’s Super League for Bristol City.

Already capped at under-15, under-17 and under-19 level, the 20-year-old joined up with the senior squad last Thursday and spent time training alongside some of the biggest names in the women’s game.

“It has been a fantastic experience for her,” said Owen. “We’ve left her alone as much as possible because they have a very busy training schedule but I’ve sent her the odd text of an evening and she has said how much she has enjoyed it.

“I got a phone call shortly after the game from one of the parents of another player in the England youth set-up, saying how much it meant to see Ebony make her debut. That was really special too.

“I know she will be hungry for even more now. She will want this to be just the start.”

Lucy Bronze, Rachel Daly and Ella Toone were also on the mark in what was the first match played by the England women’s team since the outbreak of the pandemic last March.

“I think the performance was excellent. It looked fun,” said interim boss Hege Riise, who was appointed on a temporary basis following Phil Neville’s exit as manager last month. “You see the character. The players were fighting for 90 minutes.

“All the subs that came on seemed comfortable, supporting the ones that were already playing, and the connection between the players.

“This is my first game and to see them in this environment helps make decisions.

“After this we will analyse the game, how we can break down low-block teams even more. Mostly for me, to just see the players in this environment helps to make decisions going forward. There will be some hard discussions for us.”