England scuppered by Keetels

ENGLAND’S hopes of reaching the final of the EuroHockey Championships were ended following a narrow 1-0 defeat by Holland last night.

A 50th-minute strike by Dutch captain Marloes Keetels proved the difference against the Olympic champions after a wave of second-half attacks finally told on a spirited England women’s side.

Victory for the hosts ended a run of successive European losses to their rivals. England will now play Germany for bronze tomorrow.

Played in front of a crowd of 10,000, England had soaked up the early pressure with ease.

It helped that coach David Ralph started 10 Olympians in his starting line-up. The first half was tight and tense, as you would expect from top two nations.

Shona McCallin was forced to clear off the line from Holland’s first penalty corner, while Sophie Bray just failed to connect from a fizzing Zoe Shipperley cross.

But England had four penalty corners to Holland’s one and simply wasted their chances.

Meanwhile, co-captain George Pinner knows that England men will have little home support in tonight’s semi-final the against Holland, except for former Dutch and Ipswich footballing great Frans Thijssen.

Goalkeeper Pinner’s granddad was close to the late Bobby Robson, who signed Thijssen at Ipswich, and the pair met up this week.

“Frans is probably the only Dutch guy in the stadium who will be rooting for us,” said Pinner. “But here, with the girls supporting us, it is one big England family.”