England Women have beaten Belarus 4-3 in a seven goal thriller, securing a semi-final spot at the EuroHockey Championships in Antwerp.

A tough game for both sides with the scoreboard ever-changing and a shaky opener from England in their last group stage match, saw Belarus produce several early attempts on goal.

England re-structured and remained calm which led to an opening goal from forward Lily Owsley. This was followed by a second from youngster Izzy Petter who deflected the ball past Belarus goalkeeper Tatsiana Liavonava after Hannah Martin’s pass from the baseline.

Short corners continued from both sides but Karyna Syddykava secured Belarus’ first goal as she utilised an impressive open disguise slap from the top of the circle to fire past Maddie Hinch.

Mark Hager's side didn't do enough as Belarus’ Nastassia Syrayezhka slammed another goal home with a strong close range hit straight through the centre of Hinch’s pads.

England began to counter Belarus’ style of play, altering their structure and winning balls in the vital channels by playing more laterally.

Midfielder Laura Unsworth's quick reactions on a penalty corner resulted in England’s third goal, allowing them to head into halftime 3-2 up.

England failed to capitalise after the beak, handing back Belarus the advantage in their attacking third. They scored the equaliser in the final quarter, courtesy of Natalia Shtsin in a fine team goal.

England then woke up and in the final minutes clinched the winner when Hannah Martin scored her first goal of the tournament.

Captain Hollie Pearne-Webb said post-match: “Credit to Belarus, they put pressure on us at the back and turned the ball over and so they turned over a lot of their chances. They actually had a better half at times, particularly the counter attack.

“They are a very different opposition to what we have played in the past. We knew it would be a fight but we definitely made it more difficult for ourselves today.”

She added: “Heading into the semis on Friday we really need to step up, we know we have a good performance in us. Whoever we draw against we know it’s going to be a really tough game.”

England enter the semis standing top of Pool B on seven points with Germany four points behind.