Skipper Alex Danson hailed her England side’s work ethic after they overpowered Germany 1-0 in the semi-finals of the Hockey World League in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jo Hunter’s close-range effort was the difference between the sides as England bounced back from a 1-0 reverse against Japan earlier this week.
They face Ireland in their final pool A group game on Sunday.
In a tightly-contested affair, England were the side most likely to find a breakthrough, enjoying more of the possession and showing greater attacking intent.
And their patience was rewarded in the third period when Hunter guided the ball into the roof of the net after Laura Unsworth had fired the ball goalwards from a penalty corner.
And skipper Danson, who took a blow to the head in the second period but carried on playing, praised her team’s resilience and work rate going into their final group clash in two days' time.
“We’re delighted, it was a fantastic performance,” said Danson. “Germany are an incredibly good side, we stuck to the tactics, worked incredibly hard and we’re obviously delighted with the three points.
“We’re very much a game-by-game team, reviewing a plan, find out what we have to work on moving forwards and we came out and did all that today. “It was incredibly hard. Germany are a fantastic team and we’re very happy tonight."
England started brightly, with Sophie Bray nearly reaching a ball crashed into the circle by Unsworth after just two minutes. Maddie Hinch pulled off a smart save to deny Charlotte Stapenhorst, while her opposite number Julia Ciupka was in inspired form for Germany, keeping out three consecutive efforts just moments before half-time. Hunter then broke the deadlock in the third period, and England showed maturity and resilience to close the game out.
Head coach Danny Kerry added: “This evening we were exceptional at being intelligent, fast and constantly threatening.
“We limited Germany to very few opportunities and created numerous chances ourselves.
"The girls can be very proud of how they went about their business.”
Sportsbeat 2017