England Men Secure Victory Over Austria

It wasn’t a surprise that England started the match hungry for success and it showed with their dominance of possession throughout the first quarter.

They had a couple of chances that they couldn’t take advantage of, and it was James Oates that went closest with an attempt at goal stopped by Austria’s goalkeeper Mateusz Szymczyk.

England started the second quarter with similar pressure in front of the Austrian goal before earning a penalty corner in the 17th minute but couldn’t convert the opportunity. Nick Bandurak had a chance stopped in the 19th minute as the English team continued their dominance.

Sam Ward took a powerful strike at goal after the team’s third penalty corner which was stopped by an Austrian defender on the line. The attempt was quickly followed by a penalty corner for the Austrian team, but David Goodfield blocked the attempt.

The Austrian defence closed out the England forwards in the closing stages of the second quarter and didn’t give them any space but stopped Oates’ second attempt at a field goal leaving the score at 0-0 at half time.
It was Austria that came into the third quarter with renewed energy and in the fourth minute of the quarter had an attempt at goal blocked by English goalkeeper Ollie Payne.

Oates, on his third attempt at goal, broke the deadlock after converting a short swing to seal his field goal in the 36th minute. Albery gave a perfectly aimed and timed pass to Oates on the edge of the D and he expertly managed to get the ball past Szymczyk with a back foot strike.

On the back of the goal, Austria earned a penalty corner in the 38th which was stopped by Tom Sorsby on the line. England kept the pressure on but couldn’t break through the Austrian defence again and the third quarter ended 1-0 to England.

The final quarter began with action in both ends as both sides wanted to make an impact in the final 15 minutes of the match.

England doubled their lead after converting their penalty corner in the 49th minute. It was James Albery that got his name on the score sheet after a powerful strike beat Szymczyk.

England went down to 10 men after Zach Wallace received a green card, but this didn’t stop them as they scored their third goal. After winning the ball back in their end, Tim Nurse passed a perfectly timed ball to Banduark who was waiting in front of goal and scored the team’s third goal of the match in the 57th minute.

Speaking after the victory, Player of the match, Nick Park, said: “We were fairly disappointed with our loss yesterday and we definitely wanted a reaction today. To be fair to Austria they put out a strong defence and we struggled to convert chances in the first half, but we can’t really complain to come through with a win.

“We work hard back at our centre in Bisham Abbey, and we felt like we were a really fit team and think we really came into our own in the second half.

“A lot of the team have been at this level of competition before, and we’ll back ourselves going into the game against Spain. Obviously, they are a good side but I hope we can keep progressing and make it to the semi-finals.”

In a thrilling showdown, England’s Men lost 3-5 to reigning Olympic Champions Belgium in their opening match of EuroHockey Championships 2023 on Sunday.  

It was Nick Bandurak (8’, 26’) and Sam Ward (30’) who got on the scoresheet for England while Florent van Aubel (31’, 32’) bagged a brace, while William Ghislain (12’), Loick Luypaert (40’) and Alexander Hendrickx (41’) scored a goal each for Belgium.  

Belgium started the match on the front foot, making inroads with a structured attack at the start of the match. It was Nelson Onana who took the first shot for Belgium that was blocked by Ollie Payne. 

England, on the other hand, were slow to get off the blocks, but were successful in breaking the deadlock in the eighth minute through Bandurak's scintillating field goal from the right flank. He made the circle entry from the baseline and passed the ball to Zach Wallace, whose shot was missing the target, but Bandurak being at the right place, adeptly spun and redirected the ball into the nets, putting England 1-0 ahead. 

However, the lead was short lived as Belgium equalised through Ghislain's field goal in the 12th minute. England earned two penalty corners in the closing stage of the first quarter but missed out on regaining the lead as the Belgian defence averted the danger to end the quarter at 1-1. 

Belgium started the second quarter brightly, earning their first penalty corner of the in the 20th minute, but England's defensive line denied their opponents from taking the lead. England immediately earned their third penalty corner of the match but couldn't take the opportunity.  

Minutes later, they had yet another penalty corner, which was rewarded to a penalty stroke as James Albery's deflection hit the body of the Belgium defender near the goalpost, drawing the penalty stroke.  

Bandurak's attempt was saved, but the penalty stroke was rewarded on a video referral as the Belgium goalkeeper had moved in front of the line before the shot was taken. Bandurak made no mistake in the second attempt as his fiery strike went past the Belgium goalie, putting England 2-1 ahead in the 26th minute. 

Two minutes later, Belgium earned as many as three penalty corners, but England's defensive line stood tall to deny Belgium from equalising. Tom Sorby's line save with full face of the stick was the highlight of those three penalty corner defences.  

With less than a minute to for halftime, England earned their fourth penalty corner, and Ward's fiery drag-flick helped his team extend the lead to 3-1.  

Within two minutes of the restart, Belgium equalised through a brace from van Aubel. He scored the team's second goal on a rebound during the penalty corner routine in the 31st minute, while the equaliser was scored from an open play in the 32nd minute. With things back at level terms, England were pushed on the back foot. 

Belgium went on to dictate the proceedings and capitalised on the momentum as they added two more goals through penalty corners within one minute. Luypaert scored the fourth goal in the 40th minute, while Hendrickx scored the fifth in the 41st minute, making the scoreline 5-3 to Belgium. 

England responded quickly; they also had a penalty corner in the same minute but missed out on converting it. Thus trailing 3-5 at the end of the third quarter. 

England showcased urgency in the final quarter and created potential goalscoring opportunities but couldn't find an opening. Belgium too made inroads, but England kept them at bay. England pushed very hard for the goal, but Belgium slowed down the proceedings to take home a comeback win. 

Reflecting on the match, Bandurak stated, “It must have been good for the neutral, but from our perspective, we are pretty frustrated. We got ourselves in a really good position going into half-time, we played some good hockey, defended well, and took our chances, which you got to do when you play the Olympic Champions. But, ultimately it was the third quarter where we let ourselves down. We didn't play our brand of hockey, we obviously let a few goals slip and that cost us the game.”  

 England men will take on Austria in their second match tomorrow at 12:15 UK Time. Speaking about the next match, Bandurak said, “We did play some good hockey at times today, but we need to make sure we do that for the entire 60 minutes to have success against the best teams. It's a quick turnaround but we got to move and get ourselves mentally and physically ready because it's a big game tomorrow.” 

1. Giselle Ansley
2. Grace Balsdon
3. Fiona Crackles
4. Sophie Hamilton
5. Tess Howard
6. Sabbie Heesh
7. Holly Hunt
8. Alex Malzer
9. Hannah Martin
10.  Lizzie Neal
11.  Lily Owsley
12.  Hollie Pearne-Webb (c)
13.  Flora Peel
14.  Izzy Petter
15.  Ellie Rayer
16.  Laura Roper
17.  Amy Tennant
18.  Lily Walker

1. James Albery
2. David Ames (c)
3. Nick Bandurak
4. Will Calnan
5. Brendan Creed
6. James Gall
7. David Goodfield
8. James Mazarelo
9. Tim Nurse
10.  James Oates
11.  Nick Park
12.  Ollie Payne
13.  Phil Roper
14.  Tom Sorsby
15.  Zach Wallace
16.  Jack Waller
17.  Sam Ward
18.  Conor Williamson

In person – tickets for all 10 days of the EuroHockey championships are available to buy here : 
https://eurohockey2023.com/en 

Streaming – Watch the Euros on EuroHockeyTV for under £18, or have full access for the 2023 and 2024 season (including the EuroHockey Indoor Championships, EHL Final8 and more!) for under £31. Stream here.