England take nail-biting victory over hosts
30th July 2014
ENGLAND 2 (2)
Alex Danson 15 (FG)
Susannah Townsend 27 (PC)
SCOTLAND 1 (1)
Nikki Kidd 31 (PC)
England secured their passage through to the Commonwealth Games Semi Finals this morning with a hard-fought 2-1 win over host nation Scotland. It was a very tense affair at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre with so much at stake for both teams, each team knowing that a win would take them through to the final four.
First-half goals from Alex Danson and Susannah Townsend put England in pole position heading into the break but Nikki Kidd pulled one back for the hosts from a penalty corner.
In the second half, roared on by a raucous home crowd, Scotland pushed hard for an equaliser with a succession of penalty corners. But each one came to nothing, Maddie Hinch making a string of fine saves in the process as England held firm to seal their place in the knockout rounds and set up a potential semi-final with New Zealand.
Alex Danson, Reading, forward
On the victory over Scotland:
“We are obviously delighted with the win today, the game was exactly what we thought it was going to be it, it was tight and Scotland had obviously done their homework. They won lots of corners but we are delighted, we stuck to our task and are over the moon to be building momentum for the next game.”
On making the semi-finals:
“We are so delighted to be in the semi-finals, it’s been a big competition from day one because we had a lot to prove to ourselves. But for us it is all about building momentum and every time we have done that. If it is New Zealand that we are playing we will prepare hard, we know it will be a tight game again but a good showcase and hopefully a great match.”
Nicola White, Holcombe, forward
On the victory:
“We made it closer than we maybe could have done but sometimes it is just about grinding out the result and especially in front of this crowd on a home ground. The semi-finals is where we want to be, then you are in with a chance of the medals with the crowd behind us.”
Danny Kerry, England head coach
On the victory over Scotland:
“The first-half was very good, Scotland over exposed themselves and we exploited that. In the second half Scotland stepped up and that generated some anxiety but in the last ten minutes we got some good experienced players on the pitch and that allowed us to see it out.
On potential semi-final opponents New Zealand:
"They have a lot of a pace and a relatively experienced side with many Olympians in that group. We need to deal with their pace fundamentally, and once we have done that we have got a foothold in the game.”