Wales and Scotland took all the prizes on offer from the EuroHockey U21 Championship second tier competitions on the final day of action in Rakovnik and Walcz. Read about their victories here

II-A Rakovnik

Amy Cradden’s 56^th minute goal sparked huge celebrations as Wales won the final of the women’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-B in Rakovnik, denying hosts Czechia promotion and a spot at next year’s Junior World Cup.

It capped a 3-2 win for the Welsh side in a tussle that went back and forth between the sides throughout.

Freya Diamond put the visitors in front in the third minute, a lead they held until the second quarter when Czech captain Natálie Hájková scored a stroke.

Cradden gave Wales the lead for a second time in the third quarter only for corner specialist Katerina Topinkova to even the game up in the 47^th minute.

The Welsh finished stronger, however, and got their winner after a series of corners with Cradden getting the decisive impact.

Italy finished their tournament on a winning note with a healthy 7-0 win over Lithuania with Eleonora di Paola scoring a hat trick of goals. They led 5-0 by half-time with Francisca Eschoyez also netting twice.

Final standings

1. Wales
2. Czechia
3. Italy
4. Lithuania

Teams	Title	Scoreline
ITA – LTU	3rd/4th place playoff	7 – 0
WAL – CZE	Final	3 – 2

II-B Konya

A single Zara Kennedy goal settled the women’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-B in Konya in Scotland’s favour, earning them promotion and place at the Junior World Cup for the first time since 2005.

They completed the competition with a perfect record just ahead of Ukraine following a titanic tussle in the Turkish heat.

The Scots had the edge in the early phases, limiting Ukraine’s options to counter-attack; Ava Smith had the strongest early chance when she glanced the ball just wide.

And they went in front when Kennedy applied a composed finish at the back post after a pass across goal from the right.

In the second half, Ukraine got on top for a time – particularly when Scotland were reduced to nine players for a spell – but the Scottish defence held them at bay to get their dream result.

Scottish Head Coach Jimmy Culnane said of the success: “I’m very proud of the players. I’m proud of their diligence, not just over this week, but over the months leading up to the tournament. A lot of hard work has gone into this tournament and the players stepped up to a new level and deserve all the success they’ve just achieved.”

Maria Drozda’s pair of goals helped Poland win third place with a 4-1 win over Türkiye. The Turks had initially taken the lead via Sude Nur Kurt in the 17^th minute but Drozda equalised for 1-1 at half-time.

The Poles made their move in the third quarter with Hanna Wochna and Drozda both scoring and Julia Rymer crowned the victory with 11 minutes to go.

Final standings

1. Scotland
2. Ukraine
3. Poland
4. Türkiye

POL – TUR	3rd/4th place playoff	4 – 1
SCO – UKR	Final	1 – 0