YORK City starlet Russ Howarth made his England Under-20 debut last night and kept a clean sheet as the young Lions beat Portugal 1-0 at Southampton's new St Mary's stadium.

More than 15,000 fans, plus England Under-21 boss David Platt, saw an entertaining game decided by Chelsea midfielder Joe Keenan's second-half goal.

Howarth, who has been capped at under 16, 17 and 18 level, started the game and was replaced at half-time by Aston Villa's Boaz Myhill as England made eight substitutions.

He remained unbeaten but was grateful for the post for keeping out Portugal striker's Pedro Oliveira' shot after nine minutes.

"It was a great night and the players certainly rose to the excellent atmosphere the fans generated," said Under-20s boss Les Reed.

"Games like this provide these players with excellent experience and, should any of them go on to the higher international levels, they will have benefited greatly from playing against such talented opposition as Portugal."

The priority for this age group is to build towards the prestigious Toulon Winners Tournament next May in which England have agreed to take part, while a few players might be hoping to break through into the England Under-21 squad in time for next summer's European Championship Finals.

"Tonight showed the strength and depth of the young talent that we have in this country," said Reed.

Updated: 11:39 Thursday, November 22, 2001