17th July 2018: Pool A took to the stage today in their second games here at the EuroHockey U18 Championships in Santander. The first match was our match of the day, full of drama, 6 goals and a last-minute goal to see Germany earn a draw and a chance of a semi-final place!
England v Germany 3-3
Germany opened the scoring in the 7th minute via a powerful pc dragflick converted by SCHWARZHAUPT, a second in the 15th minutes via SIEGBURG, a brilliant deflection which challenged England to respond. England did have chances to get onto the scoresheet, but some excellent German defending kept the score to 2-0 until English captain RUSHMERE stepped up to flick home for a 1-2 scoreline going into the break.
England equalised in the 35th minute, MALES on target from a penalty stroke as the earlier pc effort had been saved on the line. A solo effort from RUSHMERE in the 51st minute put England ahead, but it was an anxious 9 minutes as the German’s (needing at least a draw) took their keeper off and went for a powerplay. Using the extra man to the full, Germany equalised the game again via KLEINLEIN.
With minutes on the clock, Germany conceded a pc, surely this was England’s chance to put the game to bed, they had no goalkeeper on the field! But as everyone in hockey knows, the German’s are not beaten until they are on the bus on the way back to the hotel! MÜLLER, on the line for Germany, pulled off a spectacular save as he batted the ball over the bar. Indeed the save drew rapturous applause not just from the German fans!
A final score of 3-3 leaves the pool wide open and totally dependent on the final pool games tomorrow.
Spain v Poland 5-1
The hosts had much to celebrate as not only their girls, but their boys as well took the 3 points on offer today in Santander.
DE IGNACIO-SIMÓ was on the end of some lovely passes to capitalise on a defensive mix up from Poland to open the scoring for Spain. VALL, with some lovely 3D skills, dinked the ball past the Polish keeper for Spain’s 2nd goal. It was 2-0 at the break.
Just into the second half, Poland brought the game back to 2-1 via MAZURKIEWICZ in the 34th minute. A rocket into the bottom corner on the reverse from LACALLE restored his side’s 2 goal lead in the 45th minute. Spain dominated the final quarter with 2 further goals from ABAJO and CUNILL bring their tally to 5-1 and a solid 3 points, to ensure that they can still make the semi-final as they face England tomorrow evening.
Ranking Pool A:
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 |
| 2 | Germany | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Spain | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | Poland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -11 | 0 |
Tomorrow’s games, 18th July:
| Time | Teams | Title | Pitch | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:45 | NED – FRA | Pool B | Pitch 1 | ||
| 12:00 | IRL – BEL | Pool B | Pitch 1 | ||
| 17:30 | GER – POL | Pool A | Pitch 2 | ||
| 20:00 | ESP – ENG | Pool A | Pitch 1 |
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Live streaming
All games from Pitch 1 will be live-streamed on www.eurohockeytv.org
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