Spain will meet the Netherlands in the women’s EuroHockey U21 Championship following their contrasting wins over Germany and England, respectively, on day five in Terrassa.
For the Spaniards, they won an enthralling battle 3-2 with a trio of penalty corners doing the business while the Dutch overwhelmed England 7-0 in the first semi-final.
They stormed as they shook off some early struggles with a masterful second half performance.
They led inside five minutes when Noor van den Nieuwenhof slotted a penalty stroke after a foot on the line but the English side had plenty of chances in a lively first 20 minutes.
Jessica Dyson fizzed one across the face of goal and they looked to be testing the Dutch but a powerful drag from Imke Verstraeten put two between the sides at half-time.
She repeated the trick in the third quarter and then the Dutch hit full stride. Iris de Kemp was found in all sorts of space from a long ball to thunder home a backhand shot for the fourth.
Mette Winter tapped in the next while Guusje Moes got the final touch from a penalty corner scramble. Van den Nieuwenhof completed the win with a drag-flick to make it 7-0.
In the second semi, Germany got off to a dream start as they scored a third minute penalty corner, switching the ball back to injector Lynn Krings who swept the ball home from a narrow angle.
But Spain overcame that setback and grew into the game and they had swapped the lead around by half-time with two carbon-copy Lucía Casado goals, driving hard low balls into the backboard.
The Germans fought back to equalise when a Spanish corner went wrong and their opponents broke at speed, Sophia Schwabe’s surge into the D ending with a bouncing shot which Carlota Alvarez only partially blocked.
Lena Keller was lurking in the right position and slotted in the loose ball.
Spain replied quickly, however, and they were back in front with 20 minutes to go when Sara Carmona got the final touch to a brilliant corner move, Nerea Melero’s shot from the right getting a tip-in in front of the goalkeeper.
They held that lead through the final quarter as Germany suffered from four yellow cards – with Spain getting two – which limited their chances to get back on terms.
It means Spain will face the Netherlands in the final at 17.45 CET while Germany play England for bronze at 11.45.
In Pool C, France won a huge tussle with Austria 2-1 to get their first win of the competition, boosting their chances of avoiding the drop and also of earning a Junior World Cup spot.
They went in front in the first half from Marie-Alice Pelletier-Rimbert’s penalty corner and then doubled the lead with 11 minutes to go via Adele Jardemar.
Austria had a huge amount of chance but were unable to break through until the closing two minutes. Philippa Proksch flicked into the top of the goal from a corner breakdown; they had two more corners after that but could not find the net.
Belgium’s Young Red Lions secured their place in the top tier for the next edition of the competition as they defeated Ireland 3-0.
Lisa Moors gave them the lead in the ninth minute from a penalty corner; Astrid Bonami added the second and then Noa Schruers finished the tie off with the third in the 37th minute.
The win also means Belgium become the fifth women’s side to qualify for the Junior World Cup; France and Ireland play a direct contest to see who will finish in sixth place on Saturday morning.
