Day 3 Match reports: Afternoon
Poland men drew with Austria to deny them a place in the semi finals, with Spain men qualifying ahead of them. Netherlands women sealed top spot in Pool B with victory over Spain, and avoid a semi final match against in-form Germany.
Women Pool A: Italy 1 drew with Czech Republic 1
Czech Republic and Italy played out an entertaining 1:1 draw, which gave both sides their first points of the tournament. However, the result was good enough for Italy to secure fifth place in the group on goal difference. Both strikes came in the 27th minute, Italy’s from Claudia TORRETTA, Czech Republic’s through Marketa MATEJOVSKA. In that same minute, Italy captain Francesca FAUSTINI also received a yellow card in the same minute, but her side hung on for an important point.
Men Pool A: Germany 5 defeated Australia 1
Germany stumbled to a 5:1 win over Australia, who caused the World Champions many problems throughout the game. Despite an obvious superior technical game, it took the German’s 10 minutes to make the breakthrough as Australia frustrated them with resolute defending. Sebastian DRAGUHN was the scorer, and Germany added a second through Oskar DEEKE, also from open play. Australia grabbed a goal almost immediately after half time thanks to captain Jonathan STEBBINGS’ excellent flicked finish. The goal and subsequent attacking play from the Aussies stunned Germany who quickly realised that they needed to raise their game. However, it was not until six minutes from the end when Tobias HAUKE’s well taken goal helped the relax Germany. Australia were forced to chase the game, and replaced their keeper with an outfield player. This left them exposed at the back, and Germany punished them with late strikes from DEEKE and Benedikt SPERLING.
Men Pool B: Canada 5 defeated South Africa 3
Canada earned their second win of the day with a good result against South Africa. The team had built up a 3:0 lead at half time with goals coming from Ken PEREIRA, Wayne FERNANDEZ and Jonathan ROBERTS all within the first seven minutes. After half time the Canadians extend their lead to five with a Scott SANDISON field goal and another clinical finish from ROBERTS. In the final five minutes of the game, South Africa scored three times, with Iain EVANS scoring two, the other coming from the stick of Dale ISSAC. Canada moved temporarily into fourth place in the pool, and will hope for a Spain win over Italy later in the day.
Women Pool B: Netherlands 5 defeated Spain 3
Netherlands sealed top spot in pool B with their victory over Spain, but it was not an easy ride. The Dutch women were the better team in the first half, and found themselves 4:0 up after just 13 minutes with Marieke DIJKSTRA (2), Jolanda PLIJTER and Leonoor VOSKAMP taking their chances well. Spain got a goal immediately after the break with an Esther TERMENS penalty corner, but DIJKSTRA completed her hat-trick on 23 minutes. The game bounced back into life with just over ten minutes to play, when Yurena PANADERO scored two penalty corner goals in two minutes. Spain chased hard, but the Netherlands held out to seal a 5:3 victory and in doing so avoid the brilliant German women in the semi finals.
Men Pool B: Spain 8 defeated Italy 3
The noisiest crowd of the day, complete with air horns and loud speakers turned up to watch Spain record a comfortable 8:3 victory of Italy. It was the Italians, however who was first to score through a Jacopo LUNETTA field goal. Spain’s equaliser was scored in the 9th minute by captain Eduardo AGUILAR, before an incredible two minutes of play. Spain scored four times between the 17th and 18th minutes, crushing any chance of an Italian success sin this match. Two strikes were from Jordi CARRERA, with Eduardo ARBOS and Oriol FREIXA also adding to the score. Italy’s Federico ARDITO scored the first goal of the second half in the 25th minute, but three minutes later Spain Miguel DELAS re-established the four goal cushion. Pedro MARTIN and Diago GAVILAN increased the score to 8:2 before a late penalty corner from Massimo LANZANO completed the scoring. Spain will be hoping for a Poland victory over Austria in the last match of the day, which will guarantee their progression into the semi-finals.
Women Pool B: Belarus 3 defeated Austria 2
Austria failed to get the victory they needed to secure third place in the group, losing to a last minute goal 3:2. As the final whistle blew, Belarus jumped into the air in celebration of their achievement, whilst Austria were devastated by the result. Austria knew they needed victory to move ahead of their opponents. With just minutes left and the scores tied at 2:2, they replaced their keeper with an outfield player to chase for victory. However Belarus punished them when Yulia LAPTSEVICH received the ball in the circle and walked the ball into an open net, breaking the hearts of the watching Austrian crowd. Earlier goals had been scored by Carolin KORPER and Corinna ZERBS for Austria, with Yulia PIATROVA and Volha SHYNTAR scoring for Belarus.
Women Pool B: Canada 4 defeated South Africa 3
The bottom two sides in Pool B had a tense battle in the last game of the day in Hall 2, with Canada coming out 4:3 winners. The result means that Canada finish in 5th place in the pool. Canada produced an excellent first half performance to move into a 3:1 half time lead with goals coming from Robin LESLIE-SPENCER (2) and Andrea RUSHTON. South Africa pulled it back to 3:3 with second half strikes from Carla BOTHA and captain Candice FORWARD. It was LESLIE-SPENCER who was to be Canada’s hero though, and she scored her third goal of the game eight minutes from the end.
Men Pool B: Poland 4 drew with Austria 4
Austria men fractionally missed out on the semi-finals, with Poland blocking out an overtime penalty corner which would have been enough to put the host nation through. In an amazing match, Austria played their hearts out in front of a passionate crowd, and so nearly achieved their goal. Christian MINAR had spectacularly given Austria the lead after 10 minutes, but two goals before the end of the first half from the outstanding Dariusz RACHWALSKI seemed to have given Poland the advantage. However, on the stroke of half time Robert BUCHTA equalised, setting up a thrilling second half. Piotr MIKULA put Poland ahead for the first time in the match on 24 minutes, but two quick field goals by Peter PROKSCH put Austria in charge. However, RACHWALSKI completed his hat trick in the 32nd minute to tie the scores before the last minute drama unfolded. The result means that Spain take second place in the group, and will face Germany in the semi final tomorrow.
