England U18 and U16 Teams Play 5 Nations Matches Over Easter Weekend

England 0 - 3 Belgium
England 2 - 2 Germany 
England 0 - 5 Netherlands
England 0 - 0 Ireland 

Over the Easter weekend, England U18 girls resumed their matches against opposition from Continental Europe and Ireland for the first time in almost 3 years. At a sunny Lilleshall, the team played 4 matches in 4 days against Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland. 

With only 2 members of the squad having previously played against such high ranking teams, the challenge was to adapt to the speed and technical ability of their opponents. The opening match against Belgium illustrated the experience gap between the two teams. Although the final score perhaps flattered the visitors, their speed and intensity was clear. 

The highlight of the weekend was recovering a 2 goal deficit to Germany. The comeback was led by a goal from Lottie Bingham, and completed by a tap in from Martha le Huray following up Anna Edwards’ penalty corner strike.

In the third game, a strong Netherlands team raced to a 3-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. England adjusted to the pace of the game, competing well in the final three quarters to restrict the visitors to 5 goals.

The final game against Ireland saw the teams cancel each other out. Chances were created at both ends, but the defences held firm to see out a goalless draw. 

England U18 Girls Head Coach, John Bell, said: “This has been an invaluable experience for this squad, as they journey back into top level European competition through the next 3 months. Technical and physical quality and resilience is something these players cannot be tested on regularly in their environments. After such a long gap in competition, these first international games for many showed some standards we must work towards and achieve through this cycle and beyond.”

England 2 - 5 Belgium
England 1 - 3 Germany 
England 2 - 2 Netherlands
England 0 - 1 Ireland 

England U18 Boys began the weekend with tough opening match against experienced opponents Belgium. Despite matching Belgium for large parts of the match and going in at half time with the score at 1-1, a sloppy 3^rd quarter spell allowed Belgium to take a 5-1 lead. England did fight back but were only able to add a consolation goal with a few minutes remaining. 

Next up was Germany and they took an early lead before adding a second goal. Once again England created openings in the second half but were unable to make them count until the 4^th quarter when George Fletcher scored from close range. With minutes left England took off their goalkeeper but a defensive error allowed Germany to tap in a third.  

Sunday saw England take on the Netherlands in a game that saw them 1-0 down at half time but England rallied and a quickfire double saw them take the lead. The Dutch were never out of the contest though and managed to snatch a draw with their second goal coming late in the 4^th quarter from a penalty corner. 

England’s fourth game was against Ireland and despite seeing their performances improve across the weekend, they were unable to find a way through the Irish defence who held out to win 1-0 after scoring in the first half. 

England U18 Boys Head Coach, Mark Bateman, commented: “The weekend was a great opportunity for the team to play against a number of nations who provided different physical and tactical challenges for our players. We will take a lot of learning from these 4 days and it demonstrated the fine margins of international hockey to the team, which will be new to most of them. Overall though it was good to see the team develop over the 4 games and give us a base to build on over the next few months.” 

England 0 - 7 Netherlands
England 3 - 0 Ireland
England 1 - 2 Germany
England 0 - 2 Belgium 

The first international match for this season’s U16 girls’ squad on Thursday saw the girls lose to an established Dutch team 7-0. Saturday saw the girls bounce back by beating Ireland 3-0. All three goals were from penalty corners and were converted by Bainbridge, Breed and Thompson. Sunday saw a great battle with the Germans, with the girls narrowly losing 1-2. The English goal came in the second quarter from Alexander from open play. The fourth and final game saw us play Belgium and coming away a 0-2 loss.

Lisa Letchford, U16 England Girls Head Coach, said: “We are happy with our performance and growth over the long weekend. This opportunity has allowed us to appreciate the gap between domestic and international hockey that can only be learnt through experience. This will give us a great springboard for this summer’s series. We have shown we can compete on the international stage against strong opposition, but we now need to learn how to consistently perform at this level.”

England 3 - 6 Netherlands
England 1 - 0 Ireland
England 1 - 2 Germany
England 0 - 3 Belgium 

The U16 Boys travelled to sunny Zwolle in The Netherland for their first taste of international hockey on the continent for three years. The boys had 4 tough games in 4 days over the Easter weekend and have gained valuable experience on their international journey. Their tournament started with a 6-3 loss to The Netherlands. Javaid, Jakhu and Hegan scored, which had England leading 2-1 going into the last quarter. In a tense match against Ireland, Jakhu scored in 58th minute to secure a 1-0 win. Germany will travel to England for a 3 match series in June and it is shaping up for a brilliant series. In the first round however, they held on for a 2-1 win, despite a goal from Cook and some brilliant saves from Grant and Rowney. The final game saw a 3-0 loss to Belgium, perhaps reflecting the end of a long weekend.

England U16 Boys Head Coach Jimmy Culnane added his views on the whole weekend. “The boys needed to learn about the international game and now have experienced it in four matches. Real lessons have been learnt and they are showing exciting signs of progression. We can now implement these lessons over the coming camps, before an exciting summer ahead.”