England Under-18 boys won the Easter Four Nations hockey tournament in Holland in thrilling style on Easter Monday, beating their hosts on penalty strokes.
The scores were tied at 3-3 after 70 minutes, but England held their nerve and in the shootout and won 5-3.
Goalkeeper Sam Brooks saved all the Netherlands’ attempts at goal in the shootout, while Rob Farrington and Chris Proctor both scored to clinch the win.
England trailed 1-2 at half time with Chris Proctor their scorer. But two goals from Luke Taylor after the break helped push the game to penalty strokes, and England held their nerve to win the Tournament for the first time since 2004.
England Under-16 boys battled to a thrilling 6-5 victory over Germany to secure third spot in their Four Nations Tournament in the Netherlands.
1-5 down early in the second half, they managed to mount a fightback, which was all the more remarkable given that they received two yellow cards and played for ten minutes a man short.
Guy Mills scored on 43 minutes when he drilled the ball low into the bottom corner from a drag flick, and Harry Roberts added a third goal on 46 minutes when he blasted it past the keeper from a narrow angle on the right.
Oliver Nail made it 4-5 with a 58th minute flick after finding space in the D. And Roberts bagged his second – and pulled England level at 5-5 – with a diving deflection after Conor Caplan had crossed in on 61 minutes.
And the crucial last goal came on 63 minutes, Nail scoring with a deflection at a penalty corner.
England Under-18 girls also won their bronze medal match, beating Spain 3-3 on penalty strokes in thrilling style.
The match was tied at 3-3 after 70 minutes and went straight to penalty strokes.
Tied again at 3-3 after the first round, the second round of penalty strokes were sudden death and it proved decisive, with Spain missing their first while Kate Holmes scored for England to secure the win.
But England Under-16 girls didn’t have such luck, losing out 0-10 to hosts Germany after suffering from injuries through the second half which depleted their options for replacements.
