Germany books its place in the EuroHockey Junior Championship semi-final

As Day 4 started there was much at stake for the teams here in Valencia, especially in the 5 team Pool A.

Match 8: Russia v France 3-2 

Earlier today Russia faced France in the first game of Pool A.  With only 2 minutes in the game, Russia took the lead via Sanina. The Russian team had the best chances in the first quarter. France was defending well in their half. With 8 minutes before half time, France had their first penalty corner of the game. The French girls thought they had scored the equalizer but the goal was denied by the umpires because the ball was high.

In the third quarter, France had 4 penalty corners in a row but each time the Russian goalkeeper saved. On the 8^th penalty corner for France, Gaspari found the equalizer. It gave the French team a lot of confidence and they had much more ball possession in the following 15^th minute. But Russia fought back in the last quarter and the game was very intense for the two teams, both looking for the win. But with 8 minutes before the end of the game, Russia had a big chance but it was saved on the line by France. Russia scored their second goal from the penalty spot via Golubeva with 6 minutes left on the clock. A minute later, they increased their lead to make it 3-1. But France reacted immediately to the third goal of Russia and put one back on a penalty corner. The last minutes of the game was very tense but Russia managed to keep their lead and win 3-2 against France.

Match 9: Belgium v Belarus 1-1

The opening quarter ended 0-0 with no clear chances for either team. Belgium had the better start in the second quarter, pressing high and putting a lot of pressure on the Belarussian defence, but being rewarded for their efforts with the first pc of the game. A direct strike forced LIAVONAVA, the Belarus keeper into action. A second pc in the 28th was not converted by Belgium, a 3rd pc in the same minute, wasn’t controlled at the top of the D for the strike, but the breakdown landed beautifully for BREYNE who didn’t hesitate to strike and hit the backboard to put Belgium ahead 1-0. No clear chances for either team saw the game end 1-0 in favour of Belgium at half time.

The second half saw a lot of turnover ball. Belgium pressed hard again and LIAVONAVA was engaged far more in the game that we are sure she would have liked, but she persisted with some decisive saves to keep the scoreline to 1-0. Flashes of excellent hockey came from Belarus, but again small errors forced turnovers. In the final minute of the game Belarus earned a corner, the Belgian defence went early and were reduced to 3 defenders and MIHUNOVA converted a deflection to put the game level 1-1.