ENGLAND Under-18 Girls secured a well-deserved point from a thrilling 1-1 draw with hosts Spain in their opening match of the EuroHockey Youth Championships in Santander on Sunday evening.
With both goals coming in the first half, the game was on a knife-edge as both sides went looking for the crucial breakthrough goal. But although neither side added further to their score, they treated the crowd to a thrilling half of hockey which proved to be open and competitive.
Stourport’s Georgina Bathurst gave England the lead on 24 minutes. Erica Sanders had broken away down the right hand side and slotted the ball back for Bathurst to score from the left of the penalty spot. But their lead lasted just seven minutes before Spain pulled one back on the counter-attack, and the two sides remained closely matched for long periods.
“Playing against the home side in our first game was always going to be exciting and tough,” said Head Coach Sarah Kelleher. “We’re happy enough with a draw in the end, although we fought right to the end. We played some good attacking hockey throughout and defended well and stopped the Spanish flow. We’ve shown we have great potential as a group and we’re looking forward to the rest of this competition now.”
England (1) 1
Georgina Bathurst 24 (FG)
Spain (1) 1
– 31 (FG)
Pool A
| Team | P | W | D | L | Diff | Pts |
| Netherlands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| France | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Scotland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Belgium | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -7 | 0 |
Pool B
| Team | P | W | D | L | Diff | Pts |
| Germany | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Russia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -10 | 0 |
Fixtures for the 2015 EuroHockey Youth Championship (Under-18 Girls)
| Date/time | Fixture | Pool | Result | |
| Sunday 19 July 2015 | ||||
| 09:45 | Netherlands | Belgium | A | 9-2 |
| 12:00 | France | Scotland | A | 1-0 |
| 17:00 | Germany | Russia | B | 11-1 |
| 20:00 | England | Spain | B | 1-1 |
| Monday 20 July 2015 | ||||
| 13:15 | Belgium | Scotland | A | |
| 15:30 | France | Netherlands | A | |
| Tuesday, 21 July 2015 | ||||
| 15:30 | England | Germany | B | |
| 17:45 | Russia | Spain | B | |
| Wednesday, 22 July 2015 | ||||
| 10:45 | Netherlands | Scotland | A | |
| 13:00 | Belgium | France | A | |
| 15:30 | Russia | England | B | |
| 17:45 | Germany | Spain | B | |
| Friday, July 24 2015 | ||||
| 10:00 | 2nd Pool A | 1st Pool B | SF1 | |
| 12:30 | 1st Pool A | 2nd Pool B | SF2 | |
| 10:30 | 4th Pool A | 4th Pool B | C | |
| 13:00 | 3rd Pool A | 3rd Pool B | C | |
| Saturday, 25 July 2015 | ||||
| 09:00 | 3rd Pool A | 4th Pool B | C | |
| 09:30 | 4th Pool A | 3rd Pool B | C | |
| 14:00 | Loser SF1 | Loser SF2 | 3/4 | |
| 17:00 | Winner SF1 | Winner SF2 | Final | |
England U18 Girls Squad for the EuroHockey Youth Championship
| No | Name | Club |
| 1 | Katherine Somerville (GK) | Bowdon |
| 2 | Miriam Pritchard (GK) | Oxford |
| 3 | Alice Wills | Queenswood School |
| 4 | Charlotte Calnan | Surbiton |
| 5 | Megan Douthwaite | Wimbledon |
| 6 | Nicola Moss | Stourport |
| 7 | Holly Munro | Surbiton |
| 8 | Erica Sanders | Beeston |
| 9 | Charlotte Daly | Reading |
| 10 | Emily Kilner | Leicester |
| 11 | Georgina Bathurst | Stourport |
| 12 | Harriet Pittard | Holcombe |
| 13 | Holly Hunt | Stockport Grammar School |
| 14 | Connie Vickers | Bowdon |
| 15 | Eloise Stenner | Surbiton |
| 16 | Elizabeth Neal | Canterbury |
| 17 | Lucy Millington | Oxford Hawks |
| 18 | Harriet Mitchell | East Grinstead |
