Belgium women were good value for their 2-0 win over England to go atop their EuroHockey Championship pool standings heading into the final round of games.
The Red Panthers lead the pool by one point from England, who now play Spain in Wednesday’s crunch encounter. Belgium play Scotland, who will be buoyed by their 1-1 draw with the Spanish.
Louise Dewaet’s goal was all that stood between the teams for a long time as Delphine Marien controlled a bouncing ball brilliantly in the circle.
She got her shot away which Sabbie Heesh saved on the slide, but only as far as Dewaet who swooped to rebound.
That was until Moors was credited with the second with 10 minutes to go, her run down the right baseline taking a heavy defensive touch from Lizzie Neal as she looked to find Astrid Bonami at the back post.
There was a lengthy video review to assess whether the cross had gone over the backline which proved inconclusive, allowing the goal to stand.
In between, Belgium had the edge in general play with England stymied by a series of cards in the third quarter.
England also were frustrated not to get more from their six penalty corners.
Once again, as is the nature of a EuroHockey Champs, England’s semi-final hopes will rest on the final 60 minutes of their pool campaign.
Meanwhile, Olympic, world and defending European champions Netherlands beat Germany 5-1 to give Ireland a glimmer of hope of reaching the last four.
It means that Ireland need to beat hosts Germany by a two-goal cushion to progress.
