England's Women Secure World Cup Spot With Victory Over Scotland

England 3 (2)

Petter (3’, FG); Owsley (30’, PC; 42’, FG)

Scotland 1 (1)

Bell (29’, FG)

England’s women sealed their place at the 2022 Women’s Hockey World Cup by beating Scotland to finish top of Pool C at the 2021 EuroHockey Championships.

Lily Owsley scored twice and Izzy Petter also struck for Mark Hager’s side as they closed out the tournament with a second win in a row.

McKenzie Bell had given England a scare by equalising shortly before half-time as Scotland showed plenty of promise but ultimately England’s experience shone through.

There was also reason to celebrate for Laura Unsworth too as she made her 150th international appearance for England.

England began where they left off against Ireland, racing into a lead in just the third minute as Petter scored her first goal of the tournament after great skill along the left baseline from Lily Owsley.

Catherine Ledesma then forced Amy Gibson into a save in the fifth minute before Scotland grew into the game, winning corners either side of half-time but seeing both blocked by firstly Petter and then Unsworth.

Fiona Crackles produced another mazy run before cutting the ball back into a dangerous area only for Nicki Cochrane kicked clear before Scotland equalised with a delightful goal, Bell deflecting Amy Costello’s brilliant pass beyond Maddie Hinch.

The response from England was immediate though as they won a corner moments after the restart, with Owsley finding a neat finish after the initial effort was blocked to give her team the lead at half-time.

Gibson was back in action in the second half to block corners from Giselle Ansley and Anna Toman while also closing down Ledesma when the young forward found herself in space in the circle.

Owsley was then on hand to turn home her second goal of the game three minutes before the end of the third quarter, turning the into the goal after playing a one-two with Ellie Rayer.

England had two further chances to score in the final quarter but couldn’t find another, with a diving Rayer just missing a cross from Jo Hunter before Esme Burge’s shot was saved by Cochrane.

Unsworth – who was named Player Of The Match – said after the game: “I think we always knew it was going to be a tight affair. They certainly came out fighting. We knew it wasn’t going to be free-flowing hockey and they tested us at times.

“I think we’ve had ups and downs at this tournament but if we go away and look at it we’ve had three wins, one draw and a loss. We’re disappointed in reflection on the Germany game – we didn’t come out fighting and ultimately that result probably cost us getting into the semi-finals.

“But we’ve taken a lot of good learnings and now we’ve got another really big tournament coming up with GB so we’re really excited about the summer ahead.

Starting XI: Hinch (GK), Unsworth, Evans, Toman, Townsend, Rayer, Ansley, Pearne-Webb (C), Owsley, Balsdon, Petter

Subs (Used): Burge, Sanders, Neal, Hunter, Ledesma, Crackles

Subs (Unused): Heesh (GK)