Scotland 1-0 Austria
Scotland women booked their place in tomorrow’s Women’s EuroHockey Championship Qualifier Final with a 1-0 win over Austria in Glasgow.
The sun came out again in Glasgow for the second semi-final of the day and the stands were packed at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre with an expectant crowd hoping to see Scotland move into the final to play a waiting Wales squad.
The Scots started creating chances early on, earning penalty corners within the first few minutes of the game. They were, however, unable to convert and this became the story of the game. The home team had continued solid build up play from the back, led by Amy Costello; neither team though, was able to find the final pass in front of goal. Scotland earned their third corner with three minutes of the quarter to go – this one was stopped by the defensive runner. With just one minute to go, there were more chances for both teams but it remained goalless at the end of the first quarter.
A feistier second quarter began with a green card for Austrian captain Fiona Felber after a poor tackle. Scotland looked to take advantage but were unable to capitalise on the overload of players as both teams struggled to build a rhythm.
Scotland remained the team, which had much more possession and earned their third and fourth short corners in quick succession, yet these also couldn’t threaten the Austrian defence. The away team looked for counter-attacking chances but were continually stopped by Scotland’s strong defensive line.
A fifth corner for Scotland with two minutes left of the half created far more issues for Austria, with goalkeeper Stella van Rahden being forced to make three consecutive saves. She was quickly under pressure again with a sixth corner, with the Scotland strike hitting number one runner Johanna Czech. There were few chances for either team in open play with the score staying deadlocked at 0-0 at half time.
As the second half started, the crowd was eager for goals – and the Scotland team responded. They aimed to be more direct from the start and an early opportunity for Frances Lonergan whistled just wide of the right post. The winger then won yet another corner for the Scotland team who continued to pile the pressure onto their Austrian counterparts. They tried a different corner tactic with a sweep from the top of the circle, but the result stayed the same.
This was followed by a close reverse stick chance from Katie Robertson as play stayed in the Austrian half and another corner chance went begging.
A yellow card for Austria’s Daria Buchta created even more impetus for Scotland to take the lead before a green card for Jess Ross evened the numbers on the pitch. The Scotland team’s energy was continually buoyed on by coach Chris Duncan.
Long conversations before corners didn’t change fortunes for Scotland; however, a card for Emily Dark did. The umpire tried to control tempers on the pitch as both teams knew the importance of the game with the final on the line.
Scotland finally converted a corner at the 10th attempt with captain Sarah Robertson finding the finish on a rebound.
Heading into the final quarter, Austria started to play with greater offensive intent. An early break threatened to even the score before a second attack from Johanna Czech flew across the face of goal.
A yellow card for Felber helped Scotland regain control of the game briefly before the Austrians applied pressure again with five minutes to go. They won a corner two minutes later, leading to a tense final passage of the game.
But, Scotland managed to hold on to their lead to win 1-0 and will play Wales in the final of the EuroHockey Championship Qualifiers tomorrow for a chance to be promoted.
Wales 4-0 Czechia
The first semi-final of the day at the Women’s EuroHockey Qualifiers in Glasgow saw Wales secure a 4-0 win over Czechia and their place in the final.
Strong Welsh support encouraged the team throughout the changing conditions at Glasgow Green, with some Millie Holme creating early chances with drives up the left-hand side of the pitch and line-breaking passes out of defence. Continued pressure high up the pitch from Wales saw Czechia struggling to build possession and earned them a first corner of the match for either team; captain Elizabeth Bingham converted the initially saved strike with a rebound off the keeper. Further corners and chances followed for the Welsh team, but they were denied any further goals.
As the rain started to fall at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, Wales aimed to keep their hold on the game. A third corner for the Welsh team saw them score their second goal with a neat deflection into the bottom left from Olivia Hoskins. Frustrations started to build for Czechia and were evidenced with Natálie Nováková receiving a green card after a poor tackle.
The young Wales squad – featuring six players from their U21s squad – led 2-0 at halftime against their highest ranked opponents. The Czechs looked to turn the game and used the break to settle themselves. They built on an early yellow card in the second half for Hoskins and started to create attacking opportunities – but these continued to be repelled by a solid Welsh defence.
Neither team could break through each others’ lines, until a corner for Wales with a minute left of the third quarter led to a flurry of opportunities for both teams, but no goals.
Heading into the final quarter of the game, Czechia won their first corner of the match. With 10 minutes left on the clock, an excellent save from post-man Isabelle Howard on the line helped Wales retain their lead. From here, they controlled possession and steadily built more opportunities. A fourth penalty corner for Wales was converted with a powerful drag flick by Amy Cradden, leading to Czechia taking off their keeper in an attempt to get back on level terms the match.
However, this backfired with Olivia Hoskins scoring her second and Wales’ fourth into an empty net to seal their place in tomorrow’s final match.
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