SCOTLAND WOMEN TO PLAY POLAND IN EUROHOCKEY II SF
By Colin Pike
Scotland Women beat Austria 3-0 in their final Pool B game in the EuroHockey Championships II in Glasgow on Wednesday night to earn a semi-final berth against Poland at 5 pm on Friday (9 August).
A win over Poland will see Scotland make an immediate return to the top flight of European hockey.
Poland clinched their place in the last four with a 2-2 draw against Wales who finished third in Pool B and will battle against relegation in Pool C against the Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Turkey.
Wales, ranked 26th in the World will carry forward their 5-1 win against Turkey, but will likely have to beat the Czech Republic (WR 21) or the Ukraine (WR 27) to avoid unexpected relegation to the third tier.
The rankings were turned upside down with Austria, the seventh ranked team in the competition, pipping the Czech Republic to a semi-final place after the Ukraine ended the Czech’s hopes of an immediate return to the top tier with a last gasp 4-3 win another match which will be carried into the relegation pool.
Austria (WR 31) went into the match with Scotland (WR 19) knowing that they would meet Italy in the first semi-final on Friday unless they pulled off a shock victory, but any hopes were ended by a minute into the second quarter when Scotland led 3-0.
Scotland took the lead in the eighth minute when Jen Eadie finished from wide of the right post from open play. Three minutes later, the Austrian defence failed to clear the ball from the circle, Sarah Jamieson winning possession back before blasting the ball over the line to double the Scottish lead.
The third goal came from the penalty spot, former Surbiton player, Kate Holmes slotting the ball into the bottom right corner in the 16th minute.
Scotland created lots of chances during the remainder of the match but couldn’t add to their tally.
Surbiton’s Robyn Collins came on as a third minute substitute and was unlucky to have a penalty corner drag flick saved in the fourth quarter. Once again, former Surbiton goalkeeper, Amy Gibson was in the starting lineup with Nicola Cochrane replacing her in the 16th minute, rotating by quarter.
More information about the tournament can be found at the FIH TMS website.
The Scottish Hockey match report can be read here.
The match against Austria can be seen again at the BBC Sport website.
The game against Poland will be available to watch via the BBC Sport website; on iPlayer (games are available on iPlayer for 30 days) and via conncected TVs.