Late strikes by Germany lead them to victory over England 4-2 in Monchengladbach
Triple strike in the second half led the Germans to victory over their English counterparts as they defeated England by 4-2 in the first of the two test match series being played in Monchengladbach, Germany.
Initially the matches were stated as practice games but on the request of the Germany Hockey Board, the two practice matches in Monchengladbach, Germany this week have been promoted to official tests.
The game was proved a hard fought battle between the opponents where the English men dominated most part of the first half, scoring two early goals, while the Germans were matchless in the second half in which they made a triple strike while they scored
a single goal in the first part of the game.
The first half started with full action where both of the teams played at a fast and even furious pace in the first ten minutes which were quite thrilling as three goals were scored in this short span of time. England took the early lead in the sixth minute
when James Tindall put his team ahead by the help of a wonderful field goal. Soon after the opening goal, a minute later, the English athletes once again found the German nets when Iain Mackay doubled the English lead in the seventh minute making it 2-0 at
the start. However, the Germans replied two minutes after the second English goal and replied well when Moritz Furste opened the deadlock in the ninth minute on a penalty corner and the score lasted till the interval.
The second half clearly belonged to the Germans as they scored three goals in a very fast time of 13 minutes, midway in the second half. The second half looked evenly balanced as it was started but the Germans stole the show in the last eighteen minutes.
They made their first strike of the second half in the 52nd minute when Matthias Witthaus levelled the score by the help of a beautiful field goal.
Germans took the lead for the first time in the match in the 56th minute when Moritz Furste once again converted a penalty corner into the well directed goal. However, the Germans had to wait for their final strike till the 65th minute
and this time Martin Haner did the job for the Germans. The match concluded at 4-2 to Germany.
The Germans put in a brilliant performance as they managed to restrict England’s offence from scoring in the crucial moments of the game.
The second and the final match of the series will be played on Thursday, August 4 at the same venue.
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