ENGLAND Under-18 Girls secured third spot in the EuroHockey Youth Nations Championship in Holland when they beat Ireland 4-1 in the bronze play-off match on Sunday.
A strong display helped England secure victory while the Netherlands – who had beaten England two-nil in the semi finals – went on to win the Championships in convincing style with a 4-1 victory over Germany. “The girls are delighted by this performance and result,” said Head Coach Martin Rodgers. “The coaching team feel that we imposed our passing on a solid Irish team for the majority of the time in the match.
“The girls have made extremely positive progress over the year, and considerable credit goes to them all for that.”
It took England until the 34th minute to go ahead, Lily Owsley scoring with a reverse stick shot just before the break.
And four minutes after play resumed England doubled their lead with Hannah Martin scoring from close range from a rebound off the Irish goalkeeper. She added her second – and England’s third – on 45 minutes when she made a good break into the circle from the left and scored in the bottom right corner. Ireland hit back through Lucy McKee on 57 minutes when she touched in the ball at the right hand post, but England restored their three-goal lead just a minute later when Sophie Crosley scored from the right at a penalty corner.
