England def Ulster 3-0

ENGLAND DEVELOPMENT SQUAD RESULTS

ENGLAND U18, GIRLS

Saturday 30 August,
University of the West of England, Bristol

UK School Games

photo Takara Haines/Ady Kerry

Repton’s Georgie Twigg started brightly for England as her silky skills took her around four Ulster players but she failed to release a proper shot.  Ulster also started well winning early corners but their drag flicker did not trouble Sarah Mansfield
in the England goal.



After eleven minutes England went ahead through Ecclesbourne pupil Hollie Webb whose direct strike went through the keeper’s legs as she went down at a penalty corner.  Three minutes later it was two-nil as Lil Robinson applied the finishing touch to a scrappy goal after good work from Jess Wood down the left hand side.  The goal was the Manor School pupil’s second of the tournament after brilliant deflection against Wales.

To cap a good spell of ten minutes Tat Guttman-Hancocks scored from a rebound at a penalty corner to make it 3-0.

Immediately after goal events took a turn for the worse for England as Amy Kee was badly injured as she tackled a rampaging Irish forward leaving Kee flattened.  It was pure bad luck for Kee who managed to time her tackle just as the Irish player changed direction; the x-ray later confirmed a broken collar bone.  A few minutes prior to this Wood had also taken a blow to the head and, despite carrying on for part of the game the doctor’s advice was for Wood to miss the final game tomorrow.

The scored remained the same until half-time despite more penalty corners for Ulster who at half-time could have counted themselves unlucky to be 3-0 down.  England left the field happy thanks to a successful marriage of scrambling defence and good execution of their few chances.  Coach Martin Rodgers asked for an improved performance in the second half with greater movement and improved distribution from the back.

The players delivered on Rodger’s request in the second half and despite two penalty corners for either side the score remained 3-0 until the end.  England deserved great credit for their efforts in the second period and arguably played better than in the first half when the goals had come. The scoreline perhaps flattered England as Ulster had put in a plucky performance with a number of players displaying some excellent elimination skills.

Manager Rich Beer looked forward to the final match: “The Scotland game will be a huge challenge tomorrow as injuries to Jess Wood and Amy Kee mean that we will only have 14 fit players including two goalkeepers.  There will be a huge amount of work to do for the whole squad if we want to play at the intensity we normally aim for but I am sure a gold medal will be enough of an incentive.”



England meet Scotland’s girls on 12:00 BST on Sunday.  On Saturday, Scotland beat Wales 3-0.

Forthcoming Fixtures