Lily Owsley could not have chosen a better time to score her first goal in the tournament when she hit the winner to help steer England to a hard-fought 2-1 win against Spain in the semi-finals of the Unibet EuroHockey Championships at Lee Valley.
After outclassing their opponents in the first half, England did not have it all their own way after the interval as Spain fought back doggedly to test the home side’s resolve but they held on superbly to preserve their unbeaten run in the event.
The relief in the partisan crowd was palpable when Owsley, a 20-year-old Birmingham University student, struck in the 52nd minute in a nerve-wracking contest which could have gone either way.
The result sets up an intriguing clash in the final tomorrow against the Netherlands, the Olympic and world champions, after they laboured to a 1-0 victory over Germany in the first semi-final.
England started as firm favourites having lost four times to Spain in 37 meetings, their undefeated run going back 20 matches to 1995.
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Spain are not renowned for their attacking style but with so much at stake they played into England’s hands by ditching their customary defensive tactics and throwing players forward in attack.
Seizing the early initiative, England took full advantage by dictating play and creating a succession of chances. Within five minutes they took the lead when Alex Danson, lurking dangerously on the goalkeeper’s pads at their first penalty corner, netted the rebound from Kate Richardson-Walsh’s strike.
Unable to capitalise further, England enjoyed enough possession to bury the game but went into the half-time break only one goal up.
Danny Kerry, England’s head coach said: “When chances don’t go in players get edgy and the longer the game went on the more likely it was they’d throw the kitchen sink at us.
“I’m just glad we found a way to win but it wasn’t pretty.”
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Spain obviously hadn’t read the script and were far from ready to roll over. As England’s play grew increasingly sloppy, they swarmed into the attack with Georgina Oliva levelling with a stupendous backhand shot from the edge of the circle in the 44th minute.
As both teams searched for the winner and play swung from end to end, Georgie Twigg set up Owsley’s goal when the young striker was first to react to the rebound from the midfielder’s shot.
Today’s men’s final pits two of the world’s top teams, Germany and the Netherlands, against each other while England meet Ireland in the play-off for the bronze medal.