Historic win for Russia over Germany at the U18 EuroHockey Championships

Goals:  

A dominant performance by a technically better side in Belgium. Belgium went ahead in the 3rd minute via Boey, Struijk doubled the score after 15 minutes and Boey was on target again in the 30th minute, t’Serstevens added a 4th and just before the half Struijk was once again on target leading to a comfortable lead of 5-0 in going into the break. The Polish keeper did in fact keep the scoreline down with some great double saves.

 

In the second half the Belgian’s eased back and allowed some attacks from Poland, notably their number 7 Kuzmecka who had several individual runs down the right, but these were skuppered by a strong Belgian defence. Belgium added a further 2 to their tally, sitting pretty on top of Pool A after the first day’s play. Belgian head coach John Goldberg said he was “Very pleased with the start especially with the first half, and scoring some nice goals.” He added that they would be analysing the Dutch game which will be a tough game but they “are ready”. When asked about his target for this event he said they will play “game by game” and expect an exciting final pool game v Spain.

Goals:

Game 3 – Russia v Germany 3-2

Valeriia Borisova’s 63^rd minute volley saw Russia stun a hotly fancied German side as they nicked a 3-2 victory in a thrilling opening game in Pool B of the EuroHockey Youth Championships. It capped a brilliant performance for the Russians who defended with their lives before launching a series of epic counter-attacks. Indeed, they took the lead three times with Svetlana Eroshina a crucial player throughout.

She served notice of her threat just three minutes in when her shot was just scrambled off the line by Katharina Kirschbaum. In the eighth minute, Eroshina was not to be denied as she linked up with a through pass and, one-on-one, beat the goalkeeper Karlotta Lammers before flicking high past two back-pedalling defenders.

Solvej Althof equalised from the penalty spot soon after but Russia had the lead back once more before half-time as they survived a series of chances before taking one of their rare openings. Eroshina did the damage once again, beating two defenders and while she had space for a shot, selflessly passed to Borisova to push into an open goal.

Sonja Zimmerman levelled for a second time with a direct drag-flick from a corner but they could not make more use of their set pieces as Karina Golovastikova made a string of good saves and Anastasia Kolpakova organised a close-knit defence.

Breaks were rare but they did make one stick with some sublime skills leading to the ball popping up to Borisova on the left post and she batted into the net. They held out another couple of last minute corners to cling on for their famous win.

Team	Minute	Shirt #	Player	Action	Score
Russia	8	9	EROSHINA Svetlana	Field Goal	0 – 1
Germany	13	20	ALTHOF Solvej	Penalty Stroke	1 – 1
Russia	28	13	BORISOVA Valeriia	Field Goal	1 – 2
Germany	40	13	ZIMMERMANN Sonja	Penalty Corner	2 – 2
Russia	63	13	BORISOVA Valeriia	Field Goal	2 – 3

 

Game 4 – Ireland v England 0-3

England began their pursuit of European glory with a 3-0 win over home hosts Ireland with a superb first half laying the base for their victory at the Mardyke. The English were flying in the first half, racing forward at speed at every opportunity. They scuppered a couple of early corners but, from their second, recovered the ball and captain Holly Munro broke down the right, centring the ball perfectly for Sophie Jefferson to swipe home for a fifth minute lead.

Ireland’s counters were dangerous with Niamh Carey’s runs and some neat one-touch passing causing problems. But England were ravenous for more goals and they got their second in the 18^th minute from Mimi Tarrant, her shot from a corner switch deflecting into the backboard.

They threatened more but Hannah McLoughlin made at least two brilliant interventions to block out chances, one an exceptional diving tackle with the goal beckoning for Lily Wolstenholme. Ireland were dealt a further blow when captain and goalkeeper Emma Buckley had to retire injured before half-time. Her replacement Liz Murphy made two key blocks before the break to keep it at 2-0.

The hosts showed more attacking fire in the second half, winning a couple of corners while Tess Howard was required to brilliantly clear another chance off the line with a last ditch volley. But England had the cutting edge and when the chance fell to Lily Wolstenholme, she duly smashed home from the top of the circle for the clinching third goal with 12 minutes to go.

For Irish coach Stevie Arbuthnot, he said he was “a bit gutted” with how his side began the match. “Credit to England for the way they started; they stepped up on us an we didn’t respond. It was disappointing from our perspective that we didn’t react and they fully deserved to go 2-0 up and while we scrapped after that, we never really got a hold of the game.”

Team	Minute	Shirt #	Player	Action	Score
England	5	8	JEFFERSON Sophie	Field Goal	1 – 0
England	18	12	HOWARD Tess	Penalty Corner	2 – 0
England	59	3	WOLSTENHOLME Lily	Field Goal	3 – 0

Our Championship and Championship II (boys and girls) started today in Cork and Glasgow respectively. With the boys Championship II in Albena starting on 27th July.

To follow the games, click below:

EuroHockey Youth Championships III, U 18, Girls, Gibraltar

EuroHockey Youth Championships, U18, Boys, Cork

EuroHockey Youth Championships, U18, Girls, Cork

EuroHockey Youth Championships II, U18, Boys, Glasgow

EuroHockey Youth Championships II, U18, Girls, Glasgow

EuroHockey Youth Championships III, U18, Boys, Albena

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There will Live Streaming of the Finals in Cork and Glasgow, links to follow!