GB women in Champions Trophy final
05 February 2012
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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