Belarus 4-20 Great Britain
A mix of teamwork and good discipline led to a comfortable 20-4 victory in their opening LEN European Nations Trophy in Manchester.
In front of a bumper crowd, the host nation sprinted into a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. The first two goals were scored after exclusions for Belarus players as Chloe Wilcox and Victoria Hawkins scored.
The fourth goal came as Britain had captain Rosalind Griffiths excluded as Wilcox got her second after Hannah Wild had scored.
They did not have it all their own way though, as their opponents grabbed two goals late on in the period through Katsiaryna Alena Kuzhanava and Sviatlana Arlova.
The Belarussians, who showed that their four year absence on the international scene made a big difference, were shut out for two whole quarters.
During this period, Szilveszter Fekete’s team racked up 11 goals as Angela Winstanley-Smith, Alexandra Rutlidge and Fiona McCann grabbed two goals apiece.
Player of the match Wilcox then took the game completely away from Belarus in the final period, grabbing four goals for herself.
The opposition did make the score more respectable with two goals early in the last quarter but it was the home side who held out for an easy opening win.
Czech Republic 13-4 Ukraine
Czech Republic walked away with a comfortable 13-4 victory in the final match of the first day in the LEN European Nations Trophy.
As was the theme for the whole day, one the winning side made a flying start, going three goals up early on in the game through Aneta Hendrychova, Barbora Krasova and Dita Javorska.
The third goal came while Anastasiya Kotova had been excluded but the Ukrainian number three came back on and went straight up the other end to pull a goal back for her side before Olga Kotliar did grabbed a second.
The Czechs went into the first break 5-2 ahead and the Ukrainians would just double their tally throughout the rest of the match as their opponents dominated.
Kotova and Kateryna Degtyarova, in the second and third quarters respectively, were the sole contributers to Ukraine’s two first quarter goals.
For the Czech Republic, Veronika Bartunkova finished the game with four goals and Lenka Volpalkova added to her first quarter goal to complete her hat-trick.
Ukraine finished goalless in the final quarter as Jaroslav Bartunek’s side closed out the game with ease.
Slovakia 11-14 Portugal
Mariana Sarmento starred for Portugal as they dispatched Slovakia 11-14 in a tightly fought match. The Portugal number three scored 10 goals as her side opened their account in style.
The teams were evenly poised all the way through but Portugal took their lead after winning the second and third quarters and drawing the first and last.
Although Sarmento impressed, her side’s lack of discipline almost cost them as Slovakia took advantage of man-up situations time and time again.
Miroslava Ziakova and Paula Lacikova were Slovakia’s stand out players as they grabbed four goals for themselves.
Both players managed to put away three penalties, Lacikova scored two, throughout the match up.
Lucia Valocka, of Slovakia, and Flavia Pachelo, of Portugal, were the only other scorers in the first period and then the eventual victors upper a gear.
Although they conceded two early goals, Fatima Airosa grabbed two quick goals to even the score back out and Migual Pires’ team then took the initiative.
Sarmento scored five of their six third period goals, with Pachelo grabbing their other and they hung on during a low scoring final quarter to make a flying start to the tournament.
Switzerland 11-22 Croatia
Croatia showed their skill on the break in the opening match of the LEN European Nations Trophy as they brushed aside Switzerland 22-11.
Hat-tricks from five separate Croatia players helped their side ease to victory in their first game of the competition.
Croatia started the match well as they cruised to a 4-0 lead halfway through the first quarter, with two goals in man-up situations.
It was Anamarija Reic-Kranjac who opened the scoring after less than a minute of play. Captain Aida Sehic, Karmela Tvrdic and Emmi Miljkovic then increased Croatia’s advantage before Pilar Schmied got the Swiss back into the game.
A tight second quarter finished with five goals apiece as Croatia, once again, started strongly.
Although they were always ahead, the teams went into the final quarter tightly poised at 13-8. After the short break, Portugal hammered home their advantage, scoring nine goals to Switzerland’s three.
Switzerland kept up with their opponents in the second quarter after Maria Kalauz, Miljkovic and Sehic had further increased the Croats’ lead.
Nadia Knobel and Paolo De Feo both scored hat-tricks for Switzerland but it was in vain in the end. Poor discipline could be attributed to the Swiss as they had 13 players excluded to Croatia’s eight.
Great Britain overcame the unknown quantity of Belarus by 20 points to four in their opening game of the LEN European Nations Trophy 2009.
The team are now looking forward to the challenges ahead as they bid to reach the final on Sunday. It promises to be a tough campaign but if they can perform like they did against Belarus then anything is possible for the team.
Centre back Fiona McCann said: “We are really confident for the rest of the tournament. As long as we keep playing like we are and keep shooting as much as we can, we should be OK.”
Although the scoreline may suggest otherwise, the match was far from easy. Their opponents had not played a competitive international for four years so it was hard to know what to expect.
Britain captain Rosalind Griffiths said: “We didn’t know what they were going to be like before we got into the pool so we were really nervous, especially waiting to get on.
“The key to today’s game was staying calm and focussed and not rushing into it. We are trying to suss out what the rest of [the teams] are doing at the moment,” she added.
Chloe Wilcox, who is acknowledged as one of the best shooters in the team, was the star player for the host nation, scoring seven goals.
McCann grabbed herself two goals and, of her performance, she said: “Me and Ros both play centre back and we got to share the workload so I played centre back a bit then got to go on the wing and I really enjoyed playing.”
A partisan crowd also played a big role in the result by creating an atmosphere which none of the players had witnessed before.
Griffiths said: “We have never had this amount of support and it’s such a lift to the team. They were behind us all the way today.”
It will not be plain sailing all the way though and Griffiths hopes that “the chips are down a little they will keep on supporting us.”
One challenge will be coming up in their next match and that is how to deal with Portugal striker Mariana Sarmento, who racked up an impressive 10 goals against Slovakia.
McCann hopes their preparations will help them through, saying: “As a team we are fitter than most of the teams here so, as the tournament goes on, they will be getting tired and we will be getting stronger.”
Griffiths added: “We go through the movements so often together we now know what to expect of each other. It helps that you always know who is going to do what and that people are going to be in certain positions.”
