England men and women ended their double header weekend in Buenos Aires with a pair of Pro League defeats as Argentina ruled the roost at the Cenard.
England men put in an improved showing from their opening defeat but were undone by some clinical attacking play from the hosts, with Lucas Toscani opening the scoring and Lucas Martinez adding a second before half-time.
Nick Bandurak struck in the dying moments of the third quarter to set up a grandstand finish but England couldn’t find an equaliser, with Martinez sealing the points with virtually the last touch of the match.
James Gall, captain for the game, said: “It was a decent performance. I don’t think it was a 3-1 game. Argentina are clinical so they scored some great goals. It’s early days in this Pro League so that’s something we can move towards. We would have liked to have scored more of our chances but that will come.”
England’s women recorded a second 5-2 loss in as many days against a rampant Las Leonas side, with sisters Maria and Victoria Granatto both scoring.
Martina Trinanes and Eugenia Trinchinetti also both converted penalty corners before Ellie Rayer and Holly Hunt scored either side of a wonder goal by Agustina Albertarrio to add some respectability to the scoreline.
Both English teams are next in action against India on April 2-3.