England women had to settle for a draw with Canada in the final match at Bisham Abbey on Thursday afternoon, as their preparations for the World Cup and Commonwealth Games continue. After beating their rivals 6-1 in Monday’s other capped clash between the two sides, England came up against a strong defensive performance from Canada.
Similar to that previous performance, Canada scored early in the match, but England’s efforts to battle back were met with strong defence and they were left frustrated until captain Kate Richardson-Walsh scored from a penalty corner to save England’s blushes.
“We applied almost constant pressure but came up against a resilient defence, which is something we’re not used to – but it’s something that we need to overcome,” said Head Coach Jason Lee.
England enjoyed a bright opening spell, but it was Canada who opened their account after 16 minutes with a goal from a straight strike at a penalty corner which was hit low and to the right of Maddie Hinch in the England goal.
There were plenty of other chances on goal for England, but they were left frustrated as their finishing let them down time after time, and Canada seemed pleased to have held their lead to the half time break.
England continued to press and had several circle entries, but to their credit the Canadian defence and goalkeeper worked hard to shut out England.
With less than two minutes remaining, England pulled level from their 11th penalty corner of the game, Ellie Watton injecting into the circle for Kate Richardson-Walsh to score with a direct flick.
