GB women in Champions Trophy final

FIH CHAMPIONS TROPHY (WOMEN) – ROSARIO (ARGENTINA) –
SEMI FINAL

GREAT BRITAIN 2  GERMANY 0

Great Britain women powered their way into the final of
the FIH Champions Trophy with a disciplined 2-0 win over a rather
lacklustre Germany in the searing heat of Rosario.

This is Great Britain`s first appearance at the ultimate stage
of this competition and they will play hosts and World Champions
Argentina who eliminated the Netherlands 2-0 in a penalty shoot out
after the teams finished 2-2 in normal time.  Scots Emily
Maguire and Laura Bartlett featured strongly in the victory, while
goalkeeper Abi Walker watched the game from the stand with
Reading`s Beth Storry preferred.

It took GB only 12 minutes to take the lead, Kate Walsh`s shot
at the first penalty corner was blocked by the keeper, the ball
fell to Bartlett at the top of the circle, her pass found Sarah
Thomas who took her time to squeeze her shot past Yvonne Frank in
the German goal.  Further chances fell to Bartlett and Alex
Danson but there was no further scoring before the interval.

GB shocked the Germans with a second goal only four minutes into
the second half.  The penalty corner was won by Chloe Rogers,
it looked as if Walsh`s shot was going just wide of the target only
for Slough`s Ashleigh Ball to deflect the ball into the empty
net.  This initiated a period of intense German pressure to
get back into the contest, but Storry and her defence held firm,
despite losing Helen Richardson who spent five minutes in the sin
bin.

In desperation the German coach replaced his keeper with a
“kicking back” to give himself an extra outfield player, but GB
survived the final seven minutes and there were spontaneous
celebrations at the final hooter.

After the match, GB head coach Danny Kerry said:  “It was a
controlled win in exceptionally hot conditions.  We have shown
great maturity today in coming out and doing the business in a
semi-final.”

“We knew it would be a tough game and we knew we had to
concentrate and be disciplined.  We took our chances well, we
were clinical, and I`m proud of the team for this,” said Kate
Walsh, GB captain.

Great Britain vs. Argentina will be live on the BBC Red Button
service from 23.00 GMT.

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