Women’s EuroHockey Championship II (Gniezno, Poland) – day three round-up
Wales will meet Austria while Italy face surprise package Switzerland in the women’s EuroHockey Championship II semi-finals following a gripping day three in Gniezno.
All four have at least a World Cup qualifier ticket confirmed while the winners on Friday will be promoted to the top division in Europe.
Switzerland’s draw with Czechia sees them guaranteed a best ever Euro finish while Austria egded out Poland 1-0; Wales and Italy ran up healthy wins, too.
Pool A
Italy 7 Croatia 0
Italy led from start to finish to stamp their place at the top of Pool A and go through to the semi-finals with Croatia left to play for the 5th to 8th place playoffs. Ailin Oviedo got the ball rolling in the second minute with the rest of the goals shared by Elettra Bormida, Sofia Laurito, Candela Carosso, Lola Brea, Guadalupe Moras and Delfina Granatto.
Austria 1 Poland 0
Marianne Pultar struck four minutes from the end for a result which sees Austria complete the semi-final line-up, putting them through to a date with Wales in the semi-final.
Needing a draw to edge out hosts Poland, they were on the back foot in the first few minutes as Marlena Rybacha’s double-strike from a corner needed to be dealt with Wiktoria Blaszyk fired across the face of the goal. At the far end, Helene Herzog had one taken off the line.
The next two quarters were very even before Poland stepped up the tempo but could find precious few clear chances as Austria defended tidily. And they struck on the counter when Katharina Bauer clipped a ball across goal and Pultar got a little nudge to send it in.
Pool B
Wales 2 Lithuania 0
Amy Cradden’s twin drag-flicks saw Wales confirm their top spot in Pool B with three wins from three, firing in one in each half for a 2-0 success.
Her first came in the fifth minute after some strong early pressure, just about having enough on it to cross the line. The second came late in Q3 after Betsan Thomas’s driving run cut through the Lithuanian defence and Cradden applied all the force to put her side out of sight.
Switzerland 1 Czechia 1
Switzerland are guaranteed their best ever finish at the EuroHockey Championship II and have secured a World Cup qualifier ticket into the bargain as they held on to the draw they needed to advance to the semi-finals.
They withstood a volley of early Czechia attacks – including eight penalty corners – in the first half before nicking in front with a slightly fortuitous goal. The excellent Maya Flury raced along the baseline with her attempted pass squirming up and over the goalkeeper to trickle over the line.
That meant Czechia needed two goals to turn things around but the Swiss looked more assured and secure through much of the second half. That was until Natálie Hájková’s drag-flick found the top corner with five minutes to go and they had yet another corner with 26 seconds to go.
The Swiss kept it out and advance to the final four for the first time.
| Rank | Team | Pl | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wales | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Czechia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | Lithuania | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
Friday schedule
