Sabbie Heesh’s shootout heroics ensured Great Britain took two points from their Pro League clash with Belgium in Brussels.
Welsh star Sarah Jones struck from close range to reward her side’s dominant first-half display, but the visitors were pegged back from the spot on the stroke of half-time and the game ended 1-1 in normal time.
Heesh saved three Belgium shuffles and Tess Howard scored the clincher to win the shootout 3-1 and earn Great Britain’s first points of their week-long European tour.
“We had a really strong start and we came out very hard, we probably should have killed the game in the first quarter with really good chances,” said skipper Laura Unsworth.
“It was great that we got the bonus point in the shootout, it was a step up from when we played against the Dutch.
“We’re probably pretty disappointed to come away with a draw. We let them back into the game. We need to debrief to see how we can change it.”
Mark Hager’s side hit their straps early on and Jo Hunter came close to adding to her first GB goal that she scored against the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Jones netted the opener on 11 minutes as she was played in on goal by a sublime through the legs pass from Howard.
Britain, who were beaten by Belgium on their last visit in May 2019, conceded a penalty stroke seconds on the final play of the half when the ball hit Anna Toman’s foot on the goalline and Tiphaine Duquesne converted.
No mistake from @_tess_howard to secure the bonus 💪
— Great Britain Hockey (@GBHockey) October 31, 2020
Two well earned points in the bag thanks to a great goal from @sarahjones8888 & a brilliant performance from @SabbieHeesh 🙌
#BELGBR #ThePride🦁 #FIHProLeague pic.twitter.com/M0msUkzZMu
It was all Belgium in the second half - slicing into the British circle 13 times to their opponents seven - but Heesh was on hand to deny Alix Gerniers’ powerful strike.
In the shootout, the GB stopper got down well to save Louise Versavel and Abi Raye’s shuffles with Olympic champion Lily Owsley and Sarah Robertson scoring theirs either side of Toman’s miss.
Howard bided her time and slotted under Pauline de Ryck to seal the two points for GB, taking them to fifth in the Pro League table and earning a second shootout win of the season.
Meanwhile, Britain's men equalised twice against world and European champions Belgium but fell to a cruel 3-2 defeat late on.
Phil Roper converted a penalty corner just before half-time for the second game in succession and Jack Waller cancelled out Tom Boon's strike with his first GB goal.
But with a minute to go, John John Dohmen sneaked in a winner from close range and Danny Kerry's side were left to rue not capitalising on more of their nine penalty corners.
"We have to do better in those moments and it might be a bit closer after the 60 minutes if we can convert them," GB's Tom Sorsby said.
"We take confidence from the performance and we'll aim to bounce back before we head home. We've played four games in a week now but we're all still buzzing to be back playing international hockey."
Sportsbeat 2020