19 August 2019

Lily Owsley earns England a draw against Germany in EuroHockey Championships

England have drawn 1-1 against Germany in a testing battle for both sides at the EuroHockey Championships in Antwerp.

It was a steady start as both teams fought for possession in their second group stage match.

An early save by World No.1 goalkeeper Maddie Hinch then launched an England attack which resulted in the first short corner of the game. Defender Giselle Ashley drag-flicked high but it was saved by German goalkeeper, Julia Sonntag.

England put themselves in the driving seat going into half-time 1-0 up, after forward Lily Owsley scored a calm and collected goal as she picked up the ball from Jo Hunter’s pass across goal, eliminating the German defence.

Hinch played superwoman again as she made countless and critical saves in Germany’s attacking D. Shots fired in at her right, left and centre, on the forehand as well as on the reverse by Germany’s eager attack.

A disappointed Owsley said afterwards: “I am frustrated, we were 1-0 up and we should have put the ball to bed. At half-time we knew we had to get the next goal but we let the team get back into it, it happened yesterday and it happened today.”

Germany’s Hannah Gablac scored in the third quarter after some impressive skills, perfectly executed under intense defensive pressure.

England’s defence then held firm with captain Hollie-Pearne Webb heroically keeping the Germans at bay despite five penalty short corners in the second half.

In the final quarter both teams were fighting for the win as fatigue started to show. England made several attempts to enter the attacking third and came close when a Hunter attempt on goal was deflected wide.

Looking ahead to the next game Owsley said: “We will be in a position where we will know what we need to do against them [Belarus] after the Ireland and Germany game.

“We need to really learn from the past two games as we have let the teams back in, it is a crucial learning curve especially if we get into the knockout stages and beyond.”

England women need to win the overall tournament in order to secure qualification for Tokyo 2020.

If they are unsuccessful they will face a two-legged qualifier in the autumn.

England will be guaranteed qualification if they win against Belarus who they face on Wednesday at 9am in their last group game.

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