Wales Women's Euro Hockey Qualifier Updates

Wales women got their EuroHockey Qualifiers in Durham off to the perfect start, defeating Slovakia 9-0.

Ranked 39 places above Slovakia in the FIH world rankings, Wales were expecting a high-scoring result, and they didn’t’ disappoint.

Getting the goals underway in the first quarter, Eloise Laity slapped the ball into the back of the net to claim Wales’ first.

The second quickly followed. A quality pass fired into the circle by Hannah Cozens was expertly directed into goal by Izzy Webb.

Three minutes later, Xenna Hughes found the third, firing the ball from the edge of the circle into the back of the net off one of Wales’ countless penalty corners.

Rounding off a solid first 15 minutes for Wales, Webb claimed her second of the game, helping the ball over the line from a great Maddie Goodman cross.

The second quarter continued in a similar fashion, with Jo Westwood getting their fifth, again via a penalty corner. Slovakian goalkeeper Daniela Sutovska stood no chance as Westwood hit the ball with real intent and fired it into the goal.

The goals slowed down a bit for the remainder of the first half and the start of the second, despite Wales’ constant waves of attack. Slovakia dug in deep with some stubborn defenders and denied them converting their chances.

The goalless middle 20 minutes was finally broken with a beautiful goal straight into the top corner from Goodman in her senior international debut for Wales.

A change of goalkeeper for Slovakia brought some terrific saves as Natalia Liskova saw off three Welsh penalty corners towards the end of the third quarter.

With Slovakia a player down at the start of the last 15 minutes, Hughes found Wales’ seventh goal and her second of the game with a low strike from a penalty corner.

Soon after, captain Leah Wilkinson made it eight, finishing off a nice move between herself and Sarah Jones with a dive to guide the ball over the line.

Izzie Howell claimed their ninth and final goal, once again resulting from a penalty corner. After the initial flick-in from Livvy Hoskins was deflected off the body of a Slovakian defender, Howell was in the right position to play the advantage and comfortable knocked the ball into the goal.

Wales looked hungry in the closing stages to find one more with two penalty corners, but the double digits just alluded them and they settled for a very comfortable 9-0 win.

Speaking after the game, co-captains Wilkinson, Beth Bingham and Sian French said “It was a really controlled performance from the team against a relatively unknown competition.”

“We did well to stay patient and stick to our processes to get outcomes in the D and it was great to have a number of different goal scorers on the goal sheet.”

“It’s a solid start to the tournament for us and we’re looking forward to the next two games”.

The women have a rest day tomorrow and are back on Saturday 27^th for their biggest match of the tournament against England at 13:00.

Wales women lost 0-3 to England in a competitive game at the EuroHockey Qualifiers in Durham.

Closing the gap from the 0-5 defeat to the Commonwealth champions in Birmingham a few weeks ago, Wales were strong in defence and denied the English many chances throughout the 60 minutes of play.  

It was a tense and goalless first quarter. While England dominated possession, they created very little real goal scoring opportunities as Wales did their job with a resolute defence.

With Wales down to ten players after a green card for Izzy Webb, England continued to apply pressure on the Welsh defence but to no avail.

A good attacking spell for Wales down the right-hand side showed some promise, but it was England who came out on top with the first penalty corner of the game.

Grace Balsdon’s shot was confidently saved by Welsh goalie Ella Jackson to deny England taking the lead before the first break.

It took till midway through the second quarter to break the goalless deadlock.

A penalty corner save from the Welsh defence went England’s way and a penalty stroke was awarded. This time Balsdon found the back of the net, calmly slotting the ball past Jackson.

A fiesty battle, one goal was all that divided the sides going into half-time.

England continued to dominate possession in the second half, applying more pressure on the Welsh defence, but Wales held strong and continued to make life difficult for the English side.

A shot from Laura Unsworth very nearly made it two for the hosts but flew just wide.

England didn’t need to wait long for another opportunity. This time Tess Howard’s shot flew straight through the gap between Jackson and the post, giving them their second of the game.

Wales responded by winning a penalty corner. The low drag flick in by Xenna Hughes firmly connected with the right foot of Maddie Hinch, denying Wales the chance to encroach on England’s lead.

A flurry of English penalty corners in the final quarter were well defended by the Welsh defence, but as full time drew closer, England cemented their victory with a third and final goal.

Hannah Martin went to ground to force the ball over the line to give them a 3-0 win.

Lying second in the table, Wales women play their final match of the tournament against Croatia on Sunday 28^th at 10:45. 

Wales women beat Croatia 8-0 in their last match at the Euro Hockey Qualifiers in Durham.

They claim silver at the tournament and will play in the second tier (Division B) of European hockey next year.

Wales quickly established they were hungry for goals, getting themselves on the score board in the first two minutes with a sweep from Leah Wilkinson flying beyond the reach of the Croatian keeper.

Several good chances to double their lead followed, with a penalty corner shot from Sian French drilled towards goal powerfully but wide, and decent shots from Livvy Hoskins and Phoebe Richards saved by Nicole Stepic.

A penalty corner stroke taken towards the end of the first quarter gave Wales their second. Stepic managed to get a touch on the ball, but French put enough power into the shot to ensure it found the back of the net.

As the constant defending started to take its toll on the Croatian defence, three goals in four minutes followed for Wales in the second quarter.

Following several unsuccessful penalty corner plays, they kept it simple as Holly Munro slapped it into goal.

Two minutes later, Sarah Jones guided the ball over the line to make it four for Wales.

Another penalty corner gave them their fifth. Xenna Hugh’s powerful flick flew off the post and straight into the back of the goal.

It was a quieter start to the second half for Wales. Despite dominating possession and a few good chances, it took some time to find their next goal.

Jones made a good attempt to add to the Welsh goal sheet, but her shot was sent up and over the bar by the left glove of the Croatian keeper.

The wait for the sixth was worth it however as a perfectly judged penalty corner flick from Hoskins flew into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Hoskins added to her tally in the final quarter again via penalty corner. This time, the keeper got her hand on Hoskins lower flick, but it was enough to deny Hoskins as the ball dropped behind and bounced over the line.

Wales continued to fire shots at the Croatian goal and win penalty corners, but brave defending by the Croatian defenders prevented them from extending their lead.

In the last two minutes of play, Maddie Goodman executed a simple conversion and pushed the ball into the goal to give Wales an 8-0 victory.

The win sees Wales women finish second in the table meaning they will play in next year’s Women’s Euro Hockey Championship II.