Girls EuroHockey U18 Championship (Krefeld, Germany)
Germany and Belgium will meet in the girls EuroHockey U18 Championship final for the first time after they won hard-fought semi-finals against Spain and England, respectively, in Krefeld.
In the first tie of the day, two second half goals from Perinne de Clerck helped keep Belgium out of reach of England as they won 3-1 to earn their passage to the final.
Elise Bertram put them in front in the 18th minute with a sharp reaction to pick up a rebound and flick into the net; it followed a brilliant Lisl Denef burst into the circle to create the chance.
Louise Dewaet missed out on a second from the penalty spot before half-time but de Clerck took over from the spot just a few minutes later and this time found the net for 2-0.
Mia Moore got one back in the 35th minute when England pinched possession in the Belgian circle and she turned on a shot, striking home with venom.
But the game was settled by a classy routine with Dewaet disguising a drag-flick to de Clerck who swept home first time into the backboard.
Germany joined them to set up a double-decider against Belgium on Sunday as they got the best of Spain 2-1 in the second semi-final.
Mia Montag opened the scoring in the second quarter from a corner move back to the injector. Jessica Schwarz missed out on a stroke chance before half-time to give some extra breathing space between the teams and Spain took advantage of the reprieve.
They equalised with seven minutes left when Marta Alcaraz’s sweep got enough of a deflection from Tereasa Saenz to bounce over the line for 1-1.
The hosts, however, won it within two minutes via Lynn Krings – who grew up 500 metres from the Krefeld venue – from a corner, brilliantly adapting at the injector spot to slap home the crucial goal.
In the classification matches, Scotland edged out Austria in a shoot-out to go into the eighth place playoff game where they will meet Ireland for a second time this week. The Scots had trailed with three minutes to go before Lexie MacMillan equalised.
The Netherlands won the fifth place playoff with an 8-0 win over France; Anouk Brouwer scored four times in the victory.
** Get your U18’s LIVESTREAM PASS HERE: https://www.eurohockeytv.org/en-int/page/event-pass-u18-championships
