England
women made a winning start at the TriFinance EuroHockey Championship in
Boom, Belgium, with a 3-0 victory over Spain. However, it was a
workmanline rather than inspired performance against opponents who
offered little threat.
England were three up after 18 minutes and
never relinquished the initiative. Hannah Macleod opened the scoring in
the fourth minute, having been given generous space to convert a
penalty corner rebound.
Skipper Kate Walsh drilled home England's
third penalty corner in the 18th minute and Lily Owsley finished a fine
build-up by Susanna Townsend and Nicola White in the 42nd minute.
England
coach Jason Lee said: "It was good to score from two early corners and I
think on another day we might have scored a few more.
"We played a diferent system in this game compared to the World League in Chiswick.
"We
have effectively doubled our preparation time from the last tournament
and the girls have got incrementally better in a lot of areas."
In the other Pool B game Germany, who England meet tomorrow, beat Scotland 1-0.
In Pool A Belgium beat Belarus 5-1 and Netherlands beat Ireland 6-0.
In the men's event in Pool A Spain overcame Czech Republic 6-1 while Belgium triumphed over Olympic champions Germany 2-1.
Tomorrow England men face Poland in the opening game.