by Suzanne Beishon

BUOYANT England manager Mark Sampson likened striker Fran Kirby to Barcelona’s Argentinian maestro Lionel Messi after her opening goal against Mexico in the Moncton Stadium on Saturday.

Kirby’s second-half goal to put England in front eased the nerves of the Lionesses, who needed a win after an unconvincing opening 1-0 loss to France.

Substitute Karen Carney then headed in from Alex Greenwood’s inch-perfect cross to make it 2-0 before Fabiola Ibarra netted a late consolation goal for the Mexicans, hoping to mount a last-gasp challenge and spoil England’s party.

But it was the 21-year-old Reading forward who was picked out for praise from Sampson for weaving through the field to break the deadlock in the 70th minute.

“We had to stay patient, we had to wait for our moment to score and then our little mini-Messi Fran Kirby found a way to put the ball into the back of the net,” he told BBC3.

Meanwhile goalscoring hero Kirby expressed her delight at bagging the opener: “It’s my first World Cup, my first start, first goal — I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

“I was a bit worried it wasn’t going to go in when it hit the post but I was delighted that it went in.

“My dad and my brother are in the stands and I’m really happy that I managed to score. I know I”ll get a bit of stick for not scoring in the first half but I’m really happy that I (eventually) did.”

After the sudden death of her mother three years ago and a battle with delayed depression as a result, Kirby was unsure of a return to football. Speaking to Fifa TV the young striker said: “It’s something that I’ve managed to get over and I use it as motivation and that’s probably one of the reasons why I did feel so happy when I did score today, just knowing the journey that I have been on and I know now it was the right decision to (return to football).”

And she thanked her manager for the faith he has placed in her since her return: “It’s really great for me to hear that he’s got that much faith in me as a player and to put his trust in me, to give me my first start is absolutely incredible and obviously to get the goal and just being able to repay Mark and the girls for how well they’ve treated me.”

Welshman Sampson added that the dominant performance was the perfect response to the doubters after their first outing: “It’s a positive result for us. I’m really pleased for the players, they took some flak after the France game and had to respond in a positive manner today and they did.”

And while waxing lyrically about his new “mini-Messi” and her potential, Sampson was keen to applaud the rest of his team’s efforts: “Special players step up in special moments and there’s more to come from Fran. She’s calm, she’s focused, she’s determined to do well but it wasn’t just Fran Kirby today — the team were outstanding,” he said.

“The centre-backs won every aerial ball, the midfield players were safe in possession and picked up second balls and we saw the impact of the bench — which is going to be important, players from the sidelines coming in to make a difference and it was great to see Karen Carney come on and score a goal.”

The much-needed three points bounced England up to second in Group F but, with surprise group leaders Columbia up next, their path into the last 16 is anything but secure.