England’s sharpness in the two circles saw them record a confident 3-0 win over Scotland to start their women’s EuroHockey Championship in confident form.
They got off to a great start, going 1-0 up in the 12th minute when Flora Peels picked a great pass through the middle of the circle to Fiona Crackles. She controlled well and spun to slip the ball under Jessica Buchanan.
And it was 2-0 soon after the start of Q2, Tess Howard’s razor-sharp backhand cross getting tipped in at the back post by Lily Walker.
But it was far from a simple assignment after that as Scotland went on to control the third quarter and had two major chances to cut the gap.
Sabbie Heesh smothered the first of them; the next went even closer as Sarah Jamieson twisted and turned but her shot was cleared off the line by Anna Toman with just centimetres to spare.
They weathered the storm and then went three clear when Toman’s corner sweep to the back post was deflected in by Lily Owsley.
