The Netherlands’ Women are in the final of the EuroHockey Championships and on their way to the London Olympics after beating England 2-0 in the first semi-final.
Max Caldas, the Dutch Coach, paid tribute to England saying: “It took a lot of effort to beat them.” But England were really not at the races. “We played OK for the first two minutes and the last two minutes,” claimed Danny Kerry, England’s Coach, “but in between the Dutch won all the individual battles.”
It might have been a different story if Hannah MacLeod had not shot wide in the fifth minute. England had to wait until 4 minutes from the end for their next chance. Chloe Rogers created the opening, Alex Danson’s shot hit a foot, Crista Cullen’s flicked penalty corner was saved by Joyce Sombroek. Carlie Dirkse van den Heuvel scored from a penalty corner rebound in the eleventh minute. Beth Storry, the England goalkeeper, did wonderfully well to smother Kim Lammers early in the second half, but she could not prevent Lammers increasing the lead eleven minutes from time
