England U21 Men beat hosts Belgium
20th July 2014
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Belgium U21 Men |
0 |
1 |
England U21 Men |
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(Half-time 0-1) |
Luke Taylor 15 (PS) |
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England Under-21 Men turned in a battling one-nil victory over hosts Belgium in their opening match at the EuroHockey Junior Nations Championship in Waterloo on Sunday afternoon.
East Grinstead’s Luke Taylor’s first half penalty stroke was enough to take the points in a hard-fought and tense battle in front of a partisan crowd.
“I’m absolutely delighted with the result,” said Head Coach Jon Bleby. “I’m pleased that the lads put so much effort into the game and worked so hard. But there is room for improvement for our next game against Poland on Tuesday.
A short corner hit a defender on the line, resulting in Taylor’s 15th minute penalty stroke, and after that the game threatened to produce several more goals, but strong defending by both sides kept the scoreline at one-nil.
England will take on Poland in their next match on Tuesday (3.45pm UK time), and will need to be on their guard against a side who suffered a 3-2 defeat to France in the other pool match.