England will relish their battle royale with the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the Hockey World Cup after beating South Korea, according to skipper Alex Danson.
Sophie Bray’s opportunistic first-half effort gave them the edge in their must-win crossover match, sweeping home at the second attempt despite a referral for a stick tackle.
The Asian Games winners failed to threaten for much of the contest, until Maddie Hinch was forced into back-to-back saves to preserve the narrow lead with three minutes to go.
Opting to pull their keeper and play with a kicking back, the Koreans were left exposed after a quick counter-attack and Lily Owsley offered a clinical finish to double the lead.
The world number one-ranked Dutch await in the last eight, with Danson energised for the clash by the electric atmosphere at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre.
“We’re delighted with a really professional performance against a fantastic Korean side,” she said.
“The crowd have been absolutely outstanding again – we stuck to task and did the job, we’re delighted to progress again.
“Playing Holland will be about our execution and our ability to take the chances we’ve been creating.
“The beauty of a World Cup is that it’s one game at a time – we’re delighted to be meeting the Dutch in the next round, we’ll do our homework and be ready to go.
Hinch, who starred in Britain’s dramatic penalty shoot-out win in Rio, had been almost entirely untroubled in pool stage matches over India, USA and Ireland.
The 29-year-old produced the saves she needed to in the latter stages, but credited the defenders in front of her keeping it tight throughout the tournament.
“I was a spectator for a long time and didn’t touch the ball until the last quarter,” she said.
“I’ve had a very quiet tournament and that’s testament to the girls, we’re defending really well and giving opposition teams absolutely nothing.
“That’s a really good base to work from. It’s all about concentration and staying in it right until the end and that’s what we did.
“We will have to be on it defensively against the Dutch, they’re scoring goals for fun. We’ve got good history against that side and we have to take our confidence into that game.”