England women crash out of EuroHockey semi-finals

Defending champions England slipped to a 1-0 defeat in the EuroHockey Nations Championship to hosts Netherlands after a frantic semi-final.

England spurned a number of chances in the first half before Marleos Keetels turned in a rebound in the fourth quarter to send the hosts through to the final against Belgium in Amsterdam.

The result means England will now face Germany for the bronze medal on Sunday.

Both sides showed attacking intent in the early stages with Susannah Townsend forcing a good save from Anne Veenedaal after weaving her way into the circle.

The hosts followed up with a penalty corner but Shona McCallin was on the line to brilliantly deny Frederique Malta’s rasping effort after just five minutes.

In what was a frenetic opening half, England had another chance to take the lead after good work from Alex Danson.

The England captain was able to turn neatly in the box before her low drive was well saved again by Veenedaal.

Despite the Netherlands showing plenty of promise, and with a ferocious home crowd on their side, it was the defending champions who continued to make the best chances.

Zoe Shipperley was next to flash a fierce cross-cum-shot across the face of goal with Sophie Bray unlucky not to get a good touch to deflect the ball into the net.

In a frustrating second half for Liz Sinton’s side, it was the hosts who eventually broke the deadlock with 11 minutes to play.

Maddie Hinch was forced into an excellent save but the ball fell kindly to captain Keetels who was able to follow up on the rebound to blast into an empty net.

Keetels was playing in her 100th match for Netherlands and showed good composure in front of goal to make the decisive breakthrough.

England struggled to fashion any late opportunities and the Dutch ran down the clock to seal a famous victory.

Sportsbeat 2017