Euros 2023 England Double-Header: Both Teams Suffer Defeats in Their Respective Pool Matches

Vitality England Women's Hockey Team go down 0-5 against the hosts Germany in their second match of Pool B at the EuroHockey Championship 2023.  

Lena Micheel (38'), Sonja Zimmermann (41'), Jette Fleschütz (46', 59') and Pauline Heinz (41') were the goal scorers for the home side. 

The opening minutes of the match saw both teams exchanging attacks, with the hosts slightly dominating the possession. They earned their first penalty corner of the match in the sixth minute, but couldn't convert it. Minutes later Lena Micheel took the shot on target, but the English goalkeeper Sabbie Heesh made a comfortable save.  

England kept losing the ball in the midfield, and sat deep inside their own half, allowing the Germans to make timely circle entries. However, the hosts couldn't take advantage of the ball possession, ending the opening quarter at 0-0.  

Germany earned as many as three penalty corners in the very first minute of the second quarter, but England's defence led by goalie Heesh denied the home side from breaking the deadlock. Germany piled pressure on England's defence with relentless forays, but couldn't make much of it.  

England, on the other hand, also had a fair share of chances, making inroads inside their opponent's half but couldn't find spaces as the German defence stood tall to keep them at bay. Thus, neither side could break the deadlock in the first half.  

Heesh, who stood like a wall in the first half, was tested again at the start of the third quarter. She made one more save to deny the Germans from scoring. Germany continued in the same vein and were successful in breaking the deadlock through Micheel's deflection during a well-worked penalty corner routine.  

They went on to double the lead through Zimmermann's strike from yet another penalty corner routine in the 41st minute of the match. With less than a minute to go, Germany earned their 10th penalty corner of the match, but Heesh made yet another fine save.  

The German onslaught continued as they went on to score add two more goals inside the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Fleschütz scored the third goal in the 46th minute, while Heinz added the team's fourth goal in the 49th minute.  

Looking for a goal, England showcased urgency in the final 10 minutes of the match. They created half chances, but Germany's defence denied them from scoring.  

It was an end-to-end action in the closing stage of the match, both teams took turns in attack. Germany had their 11th penalty corner, but couldn't convert it. They added their fifth goal to the tally through Fleschütz from an open play, thus racing away with a 5-0 win. 

Reflecting on the match, Head Coach David Ralph said, “Disappointed, not just with the results, but how we played today. The first half was kind of okay. Germany punished us in the second half, and we lost our way after we conceded a few goals, so tough day for us at the office.” 

“We've got experienced players in the team, who have had ups and downs of the tournaments, some of our younger players are going through for the first time. But you know, we have got enough experience within the group. We will get together tonight, refocus and reframe on what we need to think about over the next 40 hours or so before we face Scotland,” he added. 

In a thrilling showdown, England’s Men lost 3-5 to reigning Olympic Champions Belgium in their opening match of EuroHockey Championships 2023 on Sunday.  

It was Nick Bandurak (8’, 26’) and Sam Ward (30’) who got on the scoresheet for England while Florent van Aubel (31’, 32’) bagged a brace, while William Ghislain (12’), Loick Luypaert (40’) and Alexander Hendrickx (41’) scored a goal each for Belgium.  

Belgium started the match on the front foot, making inroads with a structured attack at the start of the match. It was Nelson Onana who took the first shot for Belgium that was blocked by Ollie Payne. 

England, on the other hand, were slow to get off the blocks, but were successful in breaking the deadlock in the eighth minute through Bandurak's scintillating field goal from the right flank. He made the circle entry from the baseline and passed the ball to Zach Wallace, whose shot was missing the target, but Bandurak being at the right place, adeptly spun and redirected the ball into the nets, putting England 1-0 ahead. 

However, the lead was short lived as Belgium equalised through Ghislain's field goal in the 12th minute. England earned two penalty corners in the closing stage of the first quarter but missed out on regaining the lead as the Belgian defence averted the danger to end the quarter at 1-1. 

Belgium started the second quarter brightly, earning their first penalty corner of the in the 20th minute, but England's defensive line denied their opponents from taking the lead. England immediately earned their third penalty corner of the match but couldn't take the opportunity.  

Minutes later, they had yet another penalty corner, which was rewarded to a penalty stroke as James Albery's deflection hit the body of the Belgium defender near the goalpost, drawing the penalty stroke.  

Bandurak's attempt was saved, but the penalty stroke was rewarded on a video referral as the Belgium goalkeeper had moved in front of the line before the shot was taken. Bandurak made no mistake in the second attempt as his fiery strike went past the Belgium goalie, putting England 2-1 ahead in the 26th minute. 

Two minutes later, Belgium earned as many as three penalty corners, but England's defensive line stood tall to deny Belgium from equalising. Tom Sorby's line save with full face of the stick was the highlight of those three penalty corner defences.  

With less than a minute to for halftime, England earned their fourth penalty corner, and Ward's fiery drag-flick helped his team extend the lead to 3-1.  

Within two minutes of the restart, Belgium equalised through a brace from van Aubel. He scored the team's second goal on a rebound during the penalty corner routine in the 31st minute, while the equaliser was scored from an open play in the 32nd minute. With things back at level terms, England were pushed on the back foot. 

Belgium went on to dictate the proceedings and capitalised on the momentum as they added two more goals through penalty corners within one minute. Luypaert scored the fourth goal in the 40th minute, while Hendrickx scored the fifth in the 41st minute, making the scoreline 5-3 to Belgium. 

England responded quickly; they also had a penalty corner in the same minute but missed out on converting it. Thus trailing 3-5 at the end of the third quarter. 

England showcased urgency in the final quarter and created potential goalscoring opportunities but couldn't find an opening. Belgium too made inroads, but England kept them at bay. England pushed very hard for the goal, but Belgium slowed down the proceedings to take home a comeback win. 

Reflecting on the match, Bandurak stated, “It must have been good for the neutral, but from our perspective, we are pretty frustrated. We got ourselves in a really good position going into half-time, we played some good hockey, defended well, and took our chances, which you got to do when you play the Olympic Champions. But, ultimately it was the third quarter where we let ourselves down. We didn't play our brand of hockey, we obviously let a few goals slip and that cost us the game.”  

 England men will take on Austria in their second match tomorrow at 12:15 UK Time. Speaking about the next match, Bandurak said, “We did play some good hockey at times today, but we need to make sure we do that for the entire 60 minutes to have success against the best teams. It's a quick turnaround but we got to move and get ourselves mentally and physically ready because it's a big game tomorrow.” 

20 August - England vs Belgium at 11:30 AM UK Time | 12:30 PM Local Time 

21 August - England vs Austria at 12:15 PM UK Time | 01:15 PM Local Time 

23 August - Spain vs England at 11:15 AM UK Time | 12:15 PM Local Time  

The Men's classification matches and Semi-finals will be played on August 25, 7th/8th place play off on August 27 and 5th/6th; 3rd/4th and the Final will be played on August 27. 

18 August - England vs Ireland at 04:00 PM UK Time | 05:00 PM Local Time  

20 August - Germany vs England at 04:30 PM UK Time | 05:30 PM Local Time 

22 August - England vs Scotland at 11:30 AM UK Time | 12:30 PM Local Time 

The Women's classification matches and Semi-finals will be played on August 24, 7th/8th and 5th/6th place play off matches on August 25; and 3rd/4th and the Final will be played on August 26. 

In person – tickets for all 10 days of the EuroHockey championships are available to buy here : 
https://eurohockey2023.com/en 

Streaming – Watch the Euros on EuroHockeyTV for under £18, or have full access for the 2023 and 2024 season (including the EuroHockey Indoor Championships, EHL Final8 and more!) for under £31. Stream here.