England lose to Australia in Champions Trophy final but prove their worth
The rapidly improving English hockey team proved that their appearance in the semi-finals of World Cup hockey tournament in New Delhi earlier in the year was no fluke as they made their way into the final of the Champions Trophy in Monchengladbach Germany.
England edged out New Zealand 4-3 and was helped by other results going their way in the toughest annual competition contested by the top six teams in the world.
A dramatic finish ensured that England would go through as Richard Smith scored in the last minute of the match.
The result meant that the Black sticks were left to play Spain in the 5th position playoff and a defeat for the former champions could lead to their expulsion from the tournament next year.
The match also had a bearing on the Netherlands who would have to contend with a third position clash with hosts Germany.
England went into the lead through a goal form James Tindall. The goal was scored inside the first 20 seconds and went down as the fastest in the history of the famed tournament.
The Black sticks hit back when Andrew Hayward scored on the third penalty corner. The English responded by adding two more goals through Simon Mantell and Tindall to take their team to 3-1 at half time.
The Black sticks were not to be denied for long as the New Zealanders added two more goals via penalty corner conversions by Hayward. By scoring the third goal for his team, he became the highest all-time top scorer for the Black sticks.
However, England had the last laugh, scoring in the final minute and booking a place in the final of the tournament which they have never won. Meanwhile, hosts Germany blew away their own chance of making it to the finals as they lost by a solitary goal to European rivals Netherlands.
The only goal of an absorbing contest was scored by Mink van der Weerden who converted a penalty corner in the eighth minute of the match. The hosts had a game to forget as they squandered as many as seven penalty corners in a performance unbecoming of their stature in international hockey.
The tournament’s league stage was an extremely close affair with four out of the five teams in the reckoning to join the world and defending champions in the final of the tournament. One of them was Spain who lost 3-1 to the Aussies.
The match was tied 1-1 at the break, but the rampaging Australians showed their class by scoring two more goals to maintain their cent percent record in the league stage of the competition.
Jason Wilson gave the Aussies the lead in the 30th minute of the match as the two teams eventually broke the half hour deadlock.
Pau Quemada found the equaliser for the Europeans with barely four seconds left in the first half of the match.
The Australians went ahead in the 40th minute through a Russell Ford goal, before Desmond Abbott took the game away from the Spaniards with a goal in the 53rd minute of the encounter.
The final of the event will be played on Monday, with the Australians the overwhelming favourite to win the title.
The bronze medal contest would pit hosts Germany against the Netherlands whilst the Black sticks tackle the Spaniards in the fifth position match.
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