Germany defeat England in second Test Match

ENGLAND (W) v GERMANY

Test Match, Hamburg, Friday 3 October 2008

Germany 3 (3)

Anke Kuhn 11 (F)
Eileen Hoffmann 24 (F)

Natascha Keller 26 (PC)

England 0 (0)

In the second of their two Test Matches in Hamburg, England lost to a near full-strength Germany side by three first half goals but recovered well to put in an encouraging second half performance.

Germany started strongly and with real pace as England struggled to cope with the tempo of the match early on.

The Germans took the lead in the 11^th minute through Anke Kuhn who was slipped the ball inside the England circle after her teammate was allowed to dribble with the ball from halfway.

Germany doubled their lead through Eileen Hoffmann in the 24^th minute when the ball was driven into the English circle and ended up beyond debutant goalkeeper Gemma Ible who stood no chance with the deflection. England’s defenders seemed unconvinced that a goal-scoring touch had actually been applied but the goal stood.

Just two minutes later England were three down. Ible did well to save a drag flick effort from a penalty corner but her save fell to Natascha Keller who, with more than 300 international caps to her name, had more than enough experience to lift the ball into the roof of the net with her reverse stick.

As the half wore on England faced another German corner which flew over the bar as they found it increasingly difficult to maintain their shape and structure in the high tempo match.

Within five minutes of the second half beginning England were on the back foot again with Sally Walton doing well to clear a corner from the goal line. Two minutes later Gemma Ible was called upon again and did well to save another drag flick set piece.

Despite the early German pressure, England’s second half performance was vastly improved from that of the first and in the 45^th minute they earned themselves a corner, although it was well charged down by the first German runner.

Battling to get back into the game, England played some good hockey but ultimately the final ball was not good enough to beat the experienced German defence.

After the match Captain Sally Walton reflected on the two games: “This was a very valuable learning experience for our many youngsters who were picking up their first caps playing against world class Olympians in Germany. We can be proud of our work rate and team play.”

Team Manager Kay Hanham said, “This was a very different game to yesterday’s as Germany came at us. We did well to regain our composure in the second half.”

Slough’s Ashleigh Ball, who made her debut in the first Test, did not play today as a result of breaking her hand during Thursday’s match.

SQUAD

Started

Sophie Bray (Birmingham Uni & England)

Hayley Brown (FC Junior Barcelona & England)

Gemma Darrington (Leicester & England)

Susie Gilbert (Birmingham Uni & England)

Abi Harper (Leicester & England)

Gemma Ible (Clifton & England)

Sarah Page (Birmingham University & England)

Sam Quek (Bowdon Hightown & England)

Chloe Strong (Pinoke & England)