ENGLAND’S women will play Germany in the semi finals of the EuroHockey Nations Championships on Thursday in Manchester with the Netherlands facing Spain in the second game. England were today beaten 1-0 by the Netherlands in their final Pool match in a game in which they showed great grit and determination in defence but little penetration up front. With England’s captain Kate Walsh marshalling her defence superbly and herself showing heroic qualities and skills, supported by a string of great saves from goalkeeper Beth Storry, England held out until the 45th minute. Dutch captain Minke Booij then put her side ahead at their 11th penalty corner.
Never satisfied with one goal the Dutch continued to press forward only allowing England occasional flurries into their circle. From one rare attack in the 54th minute after a short period of sustained England pressure, Hannah Macleod got the ball into the Dutch goal but sadly the umpire’s whistle had already been blown. England will take heart from their defensive performance against the Dutch into their semi final encounter
Spain scraped through to the semi-finals thanks to a superior goal difference over Azerbaijan after today losing 1-0 against Germany. Azerbaijan today beat Ukraine 3-1.
The Netherlands were the first men’s side to claim a semi final place following their 1-0 victory against Ireland. It was to be no easy match for the Dutch with Irish goalkeeper David Harte once again in splendid form. The game was still at the dental stage of probing for the nerve when the Dutch scored their solitary goal. Taeke Taekema, their specialist corner striker and five-goal hero of their 8-3 victory on Sunday, scoring from their second penalty corner. The goal was the signal for increased Irish pressure on the Dutch goal where Guus Vogels was required to make two smart saves from Mark Gleghorne and Andy Barbour. The Dutch regained their composure after the interval with Matthijs Brouwer prominent but were denied a second goal by the well organised Irish defence. The Irish could still claim a semi final place with victory over the French tomorrow (Wednesday) and the Dutch beating Spain as they would expect to do, but the Irish will need to be more creative than against the Dutch.
Earlier in the day Spain ran up six goals without a reply against the French never looking back after Xavier Ribas scored the first goal of his hat trick in the 20th minute. After the opening goal Spain stepped up a gear and asked questions of the increasingly stretched French defence. Spain’s Dutch coach Maurits Hendriks expressed his satisfaction after the game following his disappointment at his team’s performance in their opening game in which they could only draw with the Irish. However, the Spanish, the defending European Champions, could this time easily miss out on a semi final slot.
Our pictures by Peter Luck show Alex Danson (No.15 in white top) in action and Lucilla Wright (white shirt centre of picture) leading an England attack.
