Defending champions Germany defeat gutsy Scotland

Unibet EuroHockey Championships 2015 (W)

Pool B Result

Scotland (Nikki Kidd 65′) 1 -2 Germany (Eileen Hoffman 18′, Marie Mavers 42′)

A gutsy, spirited performance wasn’t enough to stop Germany inflicting another narrow 2-1 defeat on Scotland Senior Women in their Pool B encounter at the EuroHockey Nations Championships in London this evening.
Goals from Eileen Hoffman and Marie Mavers were enough to give the Germans their second win of the competition and secure qualification for the semi-finals. Scotland’s goal came from a ferocious drag-flick shot by Nikki Kidd five minutes from time.
Speaking after the match, Scotland Senior Women Head Coach Gordon Shepherd said,
“We didn’t play for the full sixty minutes there. We were not good enough in the first half and if you’re playing a team who are ranked fifth in the world, we had to bring our ‘A’ game and we had to bring it for the full sixty minutes.
“For the second half we changed the system and it made a big difference. We were far more in the game and in the last quarter we just tweaked it again and I was happier with the second half performance. We’ve shown we can compete with these higher ranked teams.
“The players were brilliant in terms of the effort and commitment they gave but they are actually a bit down and disappointed with that tonight. However, nothing changes, the big game is Wednesday against Italy and our confidence is good.”
It was Scotland who made the first foray into opposition territory in the third minute when Nikki Lloyd collected the ball on the left and advanced to the baseline to release a dangerous cross. Unfortunately for the supporting runner Nikki Kidd, the ball cannoned off her foot just as she was about to control the ball inside the circle.
A looping, deflected pass from the German midfield in the ninth minute was met by a vicious Tina Hillmann snap-shot from above her shoulder, but Scotland goalkeeper Amy Gibson displayed lightening quick reactions to execute a stunning save to keep the scores level.
Mounting pressure on the Scottish defence led to Becky Ward making two vital block in quick time, including diverting Charlotte Stapenhorst’s pass to Marie Mavers as she anticipated the easiest of tap-ins from a couple of yards out.
Germany were then awarded a penalty corner shortly before the end of the first quarter, but Mavers could not connect with Janne Muller-Weiland’s shot from the edge of the circle and Gibson’s outstretched stick cleared the ball away from the danger-zone as the deadlock remained unbroken.
With the defending European champions dominating possession, it was almost inevitable that they would open the scoring though.
Anne Schroeder found Franzisca Hauke in space in front of the scoring circle and her penetrating run and cross was neatly deflected into the bottom left corner by Eileen Hoffman to give her side a deserved 1-0 advantage in the 18th minute.
Hamburg’s Lisa Altenburg was proving to be a real handful for the Scots’ defence during the contest, expertly making space for herself on the right of the circle to strike a great effort on target that Gibson blocked with her legs.
As the half entered its closing stages, a Hannah Kruger penalty corner attempt was valiantly defended by first runner Ali Howie, before a Kidd drag-flick was stopped by Hoffman as it careered towards the right hand top corner right on the stroke of half-time.
After conceding 80% of the first half possession, Head Coach Shepherd made necessary tactical changes during the interval that led to Scotland starting the second period brightly, enjoying more possession inside Germany’s half and causing Jamilion Mulders’ side defensive problems.
In the 40th minute, good build-up play by Emily Maguire and Aileen Davis led to Becky Merchant collecting the ball inside the circle, only for her reverse stick shot to drift wide of the left hand upright.
Despite the Scots showing far more attacking intent in the second half, a German sucker-punch was delivered shortly before the end of the third period.
Gibson could only divert Cecile Pieper’s initial shot into the path of Altenburg on the right of the circle and her cross beat the Scottish defenders’ outstretched sticks to leave Mavers the easiest of opportunities to score from two yards out.
Three minutes into the final quarter, Kruger let Scotland’s defence off the hook after a penalty corner set-play involving Nina Hasselmann led to the Münchner SC forward’s shot being dragged wide of the target from only a few yards out.
It was a reprieve that Scotland quickly took advantage of.
The second of two penalty corner awards in rapid succession saw Kidd rifle an unstoppable drag-flick past German goalkeeper Yvonne Frank into the top left hand corner and pull her side right back into the contest.
With time running out and his side in the ascendency, Shepherd threw caution to the wind for the second match running, replacing Gibson with a kicking back as the search for an equaliser gathered momentum.
Alas, excellent retention of the ball by Germany in the final few minutes resulted in limited opportunities for any efforts on goal, resigning Scotland to another narrow defeat and an important clash against the Italians.
“Italy are no pushovers”, stated Shepherd. “They are a very difficult team to break down and score goals against. We again are going to have to be at our best and I know that if we at our best, we will win the game. We will not treat them lightly and give it 100%.”

A gutsy, spirited performance wasn’t enough to stop Germany inflicting another narrow 2-1 defeat on Scotland Senior Women in their Pool B encounter at the EuroHockey Nations Championships in London this evening.

Goals from Eileen Hoffman and Marie Mavers were enough to give the Germans their second win of the competition. Scotland’s goal came from a ferocious drag-flick shot by Nikki Kidd five minutes from time.

Speaking after the match, Scotland Senior Women Head Coach Gordon Shepherd said,

“We didn’t play for the full sixty minutes there. We were not good enough in the first half and if you’re playing a team who are ranked fifth in the world, we had to bring our ‘A’ game and we had to bring it for the full sixty minutes.

“For the second half we changed the system and it made a big difference. We were far more in the game and in the last quarter we just tweaked it again and I was happier with the second half performance. We’ve shown we can compete with these higher ranked teams.

“The players were brilliant in terms of the effort and commitment they gave but they are actually a bit down and disappointed with that tonight. However, nothing changes, the big game is Wednesday against Italy and our confidence is good.”

150824 SCO GER 12

(Scotland midfielder Nikki Kidd scored a stunning penalty corner against Germany. Photo Credit: Ady Kerry.

It was Scotland who made the first foray into opposition territory in the third minute when Nikki Lloyd collected the ball on the left and advanced to the baseline to release a dangerous cross. Unfortunately for the supporting runner Nikki Kidd, the ball cannoned off her foot just as she was about to control the ball inside the circle.

A looping, deflected pass from the German midfield in the ninth minute was met by a vicious Tina Hillmann snap-shot from above her shoulder, but Scotland goalkeeper Amy Gibson displayed lightening quick reactions to execute a stunning save to keep the scores level.

Mounting pressure on the Scottish defence led to Becky Ward making two vital blocks in quick time, including a vital diversion on Charlotte Stapenhorst’s attempted pass to Marie Mavers as she anticipated the easiest of tap-ins from a couple of yards out.

Germany were then awarded a penalty corner shortly before the end of the first quarter, but Mavers could not connect with Janne Muller-Weiland’s shot from the edge of the circle and Gibson’s outstretched stick cleared the ball away from the danger-zone as the deadlock remained unbroken.

150824 SCO GER 10

(Scotland’s Kareena Marshall in action against Germany. Photo Credit: Ady Kerry)

With the defending European champions dominating possession, it was almost inevitable that they would open the scoring though.

Anne Schroeder found Franzisca Hauke in space in front of the scoring circle and her penetrating run and cross was neatly deflected into the bottom left corner by Eileen Hoffman to give her side a deserved 1-0 advantage in the 18th minute.

Hamburg’s Lisa Altenburg was proving to be a real handful for the Scots’ defence during the contest, expertly making space for herself on the right of the circle to strike a great effort on target that Gibson blocked with her legs.

As the half entered its closing stages, a Hannah Kruger penalty corner attempt was valiantly defended by first runner Ali Howie, before a Kidd drag-flick was stopped by Hoffman as it careered towards the right hand top corner right on the stroke of half-time.

After conceding 80% of the first half possession, Head Coach Shepherd made necessary tactical changes during the interval that led to Scotland starting the second period brightly, enjoying more possession inside Germany’s half and causing Jamilion Mulders’ side defensive problems.

In the 40th minute, good build-up play by Emily Maguire and Aileen Davis led to Becky Merchant collecting the ball inside the circle, only for her reverse stick shot to drift wide of the left hand upright.

150824 SCO GER 05

(Becky Merchant strikes on goal. Photo Credit: Ady Kerry)

Despite the Scots showing far more attacking intent in the second half, a German sucker-punch was delivered shortly before the end of the third period.

Gibson could only divert Cecile Pieper’s initial shot into the path of Altenburg on the right of the circle and her cross beat the Scottish defenders’ outstretched sticks to leave Mavers the easiest of opportunities to score from two yards out.

Three minutes into the final quarter, Kruger let Scotland’s defence off the hook after a penalty corner set-play involving Nina Hasselmann led to the Münchner SC forward’s shot being dragged wide of the target from only a few yards out.

It was a reprieve that Scotland quickly took advantage of.

The second of two penalty corner awards in rapid succession saw Kidd rifle an unstoppable drag-flick past German goalkeeper Yvonne Frank into the top left hand corner and pull her side right back into the contest.

150824 SCO GER 03

(Scotland celebrate Kidd’s goal. Photo Credit: Ady Kerry)

With time running out and his side in the ascendency, Shepherd threw caution to the wind for the second match running, replacing Gibson with a kicking back as the search for an equaliser gathered momentum.

Alas, excellent retention of the ball by Germany in the final few minutes resulted in limited opportunities for any efforts on goal, resigning Scotland to another narrow defeat and an important clash against the Italians.

“Italy are no pushovers”, stated Shepherd. “They are a very difficult team to break down and score goals against. We again are going to have to be at our best and I know that if we at our best, we will win the game. We will not treat them lightly and give it 100%.”

Scotland Senior Women: Amy Brodie, Leigh Fawcett, captain (both Grove Menzieshill), Fiona Bruce, Ali Howie, Susan McGilveray, Nicki Skrastin (all Clydesdale Western), Louise Campbell, Nikki Cochrane, Becky Merchant (all Edinburgh University), Vikki Bunce, Becky Ward (both Dundee Wanderers), Aileen Davis (Clifton), Amy Gibson (Slough), Nikki Kidd (Mannheimer), Nikki Lloyd (Wimbledon), Emily Maguire (Reading), Kareena Marshall (Western Wildcats), Sarah Robertson (Holcolme)

Visit the official EuroHockey 2015 website for information on the competition.

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