A TALE OF TWO SHOOT-OUTS. Results from the final day in Dublin and Monchengladbach.

It was a tale of two shoot outs for England's Women in Dublin and Monchengladbach today.

England’s girls took the bronze in the Girls European Under 18 Championships in Dublin this afternoon. 

Their match had to be decided on a shoot-out after the match ended 1-1.  A goalless first half was followed by an early French goal from a penalty corner, Ines Brabant the scorer. England were back in the match nine minutes later with a goal in open play from Pascale Massey.

The final between The Netherlands and Germany saw the Dutch win the match 1-0.

The final placings in the tournament are:

 1. The Netherlands

 2.  Germany

 3.  England
  4. France

 5. Belgium

 6. Russia

 7. Ireland

8. Wales.

Unfortunately, 7^th and 8^th place means that Ireland and Wales are relegated to the second tier tournament when next it is played.

The Under 18s luck did not follow the Under 21s to the Women’s Junior World Cup in Monchengladbach. 

It was another bronze medal match that had to be decided on a shoot out. Playing India, England found themselves trailing after 13 minutes following a goal from Rani. England equalised deep into the second half thanks to Anna Toman, and the match ended 1-1 in normal time.

The shoot out was a success or failure for both teams, depending on your point of view. Rani was the only Indian player to find the net in the first series of five. Despite this, they would have won the match at this point if it was not for Emily Defroand scoring from England’s fifth attempt.

Sudden death saw both Rani and Defroand find the net, but it was a successful attempt from Navneet Kaur that finally gave the match to India.

The final was inevitably between The Netherlands and Argentina, and the score was 1-1 a the end of normal time.  The match was finally decided on a shoot-out, which the Dutch won 4-2.

England’s fourth place will be a disappointment, but some of the other leading hockey nations did even less well. Australia finished 6^th and Germany 10^th.

The final standings were:

1. The Netherlands

2..  Agentina
3.  India

4.  England

5.  Spain

6.  Australia

7.   USA

8. South Africa

9.  New Zealand

10  Germany

11.   Korea

12.   China

13.   Belgium

14.   Canada

15.   Russia
16.   Ghana