Argentina defeat England 3-1

SAMSUNG CHAMPIONS TROPHY, WOMEN, SYDNEY

ARGENTINA 3 (2)

Agustina Soedad Garcia 19 (PC)

Carla Rebecchi 32 (F)

Noel Barrionuevo 52 (PC)

ENGLAND 1 (1)

Rebecca Herbert 6 (F)

WORLD RANKING POSITIONS: Argentina 2, England 8

WORLD RANKING POSITIONS: Germany 2, England 8

For the third time in this 2009 Women’s Champions Trophy, England took an early lead but ultimately lost out in a battle against the world’s second best side.

Rebecca Herbert, who earned her 50^th cap in today’s game, opened the scoring for England in the 6^th minute deflecting in a cross from Sunday’s goalscorer Chloe Rogers but Argentina drew level when they converted their first penalty corner of the match which came in the 18^th minute and was slotted in at the post by Soledad Garcia. They then took the lead on the half hour mark when five-times WorldHockey player of the year Luciana Aymar won possession and launched an attack down the left hand side, finally supplying Carla Rebecchi who finished with ablomb to take a 2-1 lead into the break.

Argentina found themselves down to 10 players in the 44^th minute after the yellow card was shown to Rosario Lchetti, but England, despite plenty of support from the crowd, could not take advantage and conceded a further goal in the 52^nd minute, again to a set piece play when Noel Barrionuevo converted another penalty corner.

A flurry of penalty corners came and went for England without reward leaving them with a total of five in the match which went unconverted.

Head Coach Danny Kerry said after the game “We tried to construct and play a passing game and pass down the pitch, but we’re not quite there in the final third yet. If you compare the two sides, we have an average of about 30 caps a player who are playing against the likes of Aymar [five-times WorldHockey Player of the Year]. Our priority remains the European Championships next month and we are a young squad gaining experience all the time, with five or six players back at home who can challenge for places.”

Captain Kate Walsh said “Overall we’re very pleased with our performance but obviously not the result. It was quite a good attacking performance, but we lacked the finesse required in the D and there were lapses of concentration at the back.”

England now face a showdown with the hosts Australia tomorrow (11:05BST). So far, Australia have all of the three possible results to their name with a win against Germany, a defeat against Argentina and a draw against China. England’s final pool match will be played on Saturday against China (02:05BST). Regardless of England’s final placing in this tournament, participation in the 2010 tournament is already guaranteed. As the host nation of next year’s Women’s Champions Trophy, from 10-18 July 2010, England qualifies automatically for the tournament at Highfields Sports Club in Nottingham.

CURRENT TABLE

1. Argentina, 9pts

2. Netherlands, 7pts

3. Germany, 6pts

4. Australia, 4pts

5. China, 1pt

6. England, 1pt

ENGLAND TEAM (full caps on attached list)

Becky Duggan (Trojans) [Goalkeeper]

Gemma Darrington (Leicester) [Defender]

Natalie Seymour (Canterbury) [Defender]

Chloe Strong (Pinoke) [Defender]