England wins the bronze medal

27th August, GANT EHC in Mönchengladbach, women: England – Spain 2:1 (0:0)

27.08.2011 - England had to be very patient against the defensively strong Spanish team. It wasn’t until three minutes before the end of the game that Helen Richardson scored the winning goal and presented her team with the bronze medal. There were no goals before half time. Both teams concentrated fully in the match for third place, but neither side gave away many chances.

England’s goalkeeper Storry took the sting out of a Spanish penalty corner in the fourth minute, and only a minute later there was no one in the English circle to accept a cross pass from Anabel Flores. Spain did not see many more chances – one corner was defended by England. England had more possession, but was usually stopped on the Spanish quarter line, and so there were no more conclusive scenes to report in the circles during the last 15 minutes.

England improved after the break, but had bad luck after two minutes when they hit the Spanish post. Lopez de Eguilaz in the Spanish goal had to stretch in the 42nd minute to disarm an Argentinian backhand from Alex Danson. Spain went into the lead somewhat surprisingly in the 49th minute as the result of a penalty corner. Georgina Oliva’s shot could be blocked, but Silvia Muñoz was able to poke the ball over the English line from the melee.

England didn’t give up and equalised just three minutes later, when Georgina Twiggs found Helen Richardson at the far post, and she safely put the ball home. And England remained strong while Spain could only counter singly. The winning goal came just before the end, when an English free hit was quickly carried out, and Helen Richardson again scored with an Argentinian backhand. The usually reliable Lopez de Eguilaz was not able to block the goal.

England deservedly won the bronze medal and could even afford to concede a final penalty corner. England’s coach Danny Kerry was very pleased with the success: “Spain played very defensively, as they have throughout the tournament, as we knew that we couldn’t force success. Our patience paid off.” Captain Kate Walsh was still a bit sad about the semi-final loss to the Netherlands on Thursday.

“Yesterday we got together in the team and had long discussions. It was very good that we could round up the tournament with this success. Even if it may sound a bit strange after a long hockey year, I’m already looking forward to the preparations for the Olympics. With our Scottish and Welsh players, we’ll be able to put together a really good team for Great Britain in London.”

Goals:

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0:1 Silvia Muñoz (48, PC)

1:1 Helen Richardson (51)

2:1 Helen Richardson (67)

Penalty corners:

ENG 3 (no goal) / ESP 3 (1 goal)

Green cards:

Ashleigh Ball (31) / Olalla Piñeiro (9)

Umpires:

Julie Ashton-Lucy / Stella Bertlema