England defeats Spain 2-1 to lift EuroHockey Bronze medal – Women’s Hockey Update
After losing the semi-final game in the hands of Netherlands, the English women improved their performance and powered a 2-1 victory over Spain in the third-place playoff game of the EuroHockey Championship being contested at the Warsteiner Hockey Park in
Monchengladbach, Germany.
Danny Kerry, the Head Trainer of the English side expressed gratifications over the bronze medal. He said, “It’s very difficult to break down a team that is not interested in playing hockey. We were patient though, we stuck to our game plan and we came through
it. In the grand scheme of things we might be disappointed with bronze because we came here looking to win gold but we should remember that in competitive tournaments we have only lost twice so far this year.”
English Team Skipper Kate Walsh also spoke with the media in which she briefed their performance. She stated in a pleasing state of mind that they came in Germany to push their momentum to reach into the title-claiming match. She stated that it didn’t happen
but that they would come back as a stronger team.
The English came from behind to edge past Spanish team to lift the third-place bronze medal in the tournament. It is vital to mention here that the Spanish and English women met each other for the fourth consecutive time in the third-place playoff in the
EuroHockey Championship.
The English team made changes in their game plan after losing the semi-final match by straight two goals. It has better track record over Spanish women with only four defeats and 19 victories in the total thirty-five competitions.
Both the Spanish and English squads landed onto the field with a mission to take either side down in hunt for the bronze medal.
The English team won a short corner in the very early minutes when Helen Richardson made an impressive effort at the left flank. However, Kate Walsh did not beat the Spanish custodian. From the other side, Spain earned two penalty corners but the defending
line of England was impressive enough to deny the strikes. In spite of the fast paced nature of the game, both the English and Spanish teams failed to mark a goal in the first thirty-five minutes of play.
In the second half of play both the line-ups resumed the play with fixing guns on goals of the either side. In the 47th minute of the mark, Silvia Munoz converted a short corner and put Spain ahead onto the scoreboard. However, the English players
were not sitting idly in the play. Helen Richardson came into action in the waning moments and scored two back-to-back goals respectively in the 51st and 68th minutes to seal the victory 2-1. This victory awarded them a bronze medal in
the EuroHockey Championship.
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