Croatia start on a high as Zagreb, Krefeld and Swansea girls events all in action

A single Croatian goal brought the EuroHockey U18 Championship II-A to life as action got under way in Zagreb in addition to the already underway tournaments in Krefeld and Swansea.

That goal has the host nation topping their group with Italy, Lithuania, Switzerland and the Czech Republic giving chase. In Krefeld, the Netherlands were pushed to the limit by England while Germany and Spain were too strong for France and Austria.  Poland, meanwhile, continue to make waves in Swansea.

Here’s a round-up of the action:

Girls 

EuroHockey U18 Championship (Krefeld, Germany)

Pool A

Germany 5 France 0

Four second half goals saw Germany make it two wins from two in Pool A and put them in a strong position for the semi-finals, inflicting France’s first defeat in Krefeld.

Friederike Seifert got the only goal of the first half with a close range rebound but, otherwise, the French side were more than a match for them, making life extremely difficult.

The match turned, however, when France were shown a yellow card and Germany profited twice. With the extra player, Julia Boehringer scored a corner and Giulia Funkel added another rebound. Johanna Hachenburg and Carolin Seidel both scored in the last 10 minutes.

They now lead the group on goal difference ahead of Belgium on six points. Tuesday sees the key meeting between Ireland and Scotland.

Pool B

Netherlands 1 England 0

The Netherlands won a really tight battle over England with Dymph Luttge’s single goal in the 42nd minute deciding the contest.

There were plenty of chances at each end with England only denied by some Dutch scramble defence while the English side did well to keep out a series of corners. 

Luttge’s goal came off the back of some superb interplay down the left wing which set Luttge through on goal. Her attempted dummy to the right did enough to send the goalkeeper the wrong direction and slip the ball into the backboard.

Spain 10 Austria 0

Spain made it a tough first ever top division game for Austria as they ran up the goals late on to record a 10-0 victory in Krefeld. They led from the front, player of the match Natalia Vilanova scoring in the fourth minute and then Carmen Fernandez added another from a stroke.

They did miss another stroke too while Austria had a goal disallowed in a busy early phase. Goalkeepers Mattea Prinz and Elena Lendl did make a string of good saves but Spain pulled away with seven second half goals with Vilanova and Leire Zubizarreta scoring two each.

Monday sees both in action again with the Netherlands facing Spain and Austria up against England. 

EuroHockey U18 Championship II-A (Zagreb, Croatia)

Viktorija Zajec got the only goal of the opening day of the Championship II-A in Zagreb to send the home crowd home happy. She struck in the 42nd minute to earn a 1-0 win over Switzerland to give them the perfect start to the competition.

Earlier in the day, Italy and Lithuania played out a scoreless draw. It leaves things very tight in the group at this early stage. The Czech Republic enter the fray on Tuesaday when they come up against the hosts Croatia while Switzerland play Lithuania in their second match each.

EuroHockey U18 Championship II-B (Swansea, Wales)

Poland took a bit step forward as they recorded a 4-1 win over Türkiye, a result which has them six points clear of their rivals in this three team group in Swansea.

A corner goal from Oliwia Krychniak was followed up by Jagoda Arciszewska in the second quarter for a strong 2-0 lead. Buse Sahiner got one back to make it close going into the final quarter but a second and third goal of the tournament form Hanna Wochna secured the win.

They now head the group on six points and a goal difference of plus six going into their rest day; both of their rivals hoping to get off the mark when they meet on Tuesday. 

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