England finally break down resilient Wales to book their place at 2019 Women's World Cup in France

Phil Neville will coach at his first major tournament after his England team defeated Wales 3-0 in Newport to qualify for next year’s Women’s World Cup in France.

Second half goals from Toni Duggan, Jill Scott and Nikita Parris were too much for a Wales side who had given everything in the first 45 minutes, but eventually ran out of steam.

The win for England not only sees them qualify top of their group, but also means they avoid a tricky play-off that could have seen them paired against the likes of Germany or Denmark.

After a roaring rendition of the Wales national anthem, the home side commenced proceedings and it was they who had the crowd on their feet inside the first few minutes, when captain Jess Fishlock was played through by striker Kayleigh Green only to see her effort blocked for a corner after three minutes.

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There was much talk ahead of the fixture regarding Wales hosting the match in Newport to try and gain an advantage over the Lionesses, with players publicly asking fans to make it difficult for the visitors and ‘rattle them.’ One thing of note was the size of the pitch, with the lines around the perimeter of the field narrowed, possibly to suppress England’s threat down the wings.

However, the Welsh received a huge let off in the seventh minute when Parris had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside.

The Manchester City striker pounced on left-back Alex Greenwood’s shot from the corner of the box that cannoned off the crossbar, poking home from close range. But the assistant referee’s flag went up, despite Parris being clearly onside.

Wales midfielder Angharad James launched a shot from 20 yards that was well saved by England’s Karen Bardsley five minutes later, as a frantic opening 15 minutes set the tone for the rest of the match.

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The crowd were heavily in favour of the home side as they cheered every Welsh challenge and booed England’s time in possession, with their side much more adventurous than their showing in Southampton back in April, and goals against column still showing zero.

Helen Ward almost made Lucy Bronze pay after pouncing on a poor touch, but she could only fire straight at Bardsley in what was the last real chance of the first half.

Phil Neville’s Lionesses started the second half the brighter as they looked to break down Wales’ stubborn defence, with their passing crisper and quicker as they exerted more pressure to find a way past Wales keeper, Laura O’Sullivan.

Eleven minutes into the second half, they finally broke the deadlock through Duggan.

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Midfielder Jordan Nobbs played a ball into the box that was parried by O’Sullivan to Fran Kirby, who cleverly squared for Duggan to fire into an empty net.

Having waited 146 minutes to score their first against Wales this year, it took just three minutes for England to find their second as they doubled their lead through Jill Scott.

A corner cleared by Hayley Ladd was pumped back into the box by Bronze, and the tall figure of Scott leaped above everyone to head home past O’Sullivan.

Wales’ first half efforts began to tell as Parris put England out of sight with a third. A Greenwood free-kick from the edge of the box was spilled by O’Sullivan, with Houghton heading the rebound to Parris, who fired home from close range on 68 minutes, giving England three goals in eleven minutes.

Despite the Welsh crowd continuing to get behind their side, the tempo cooled significantly as England saw out the final moments of the match to clinch their place in France next year.

Tuesday’s game in Kazakhstan will give Neville an opportunity to experiment with his squad, while Wales will have a nervous wait to see if they have secured a play-off spot.