Charlotte Stapenhorst’s goal 17 seconds from full time gave Germany’s women a remarkable 4-3 victory over hosts Great Britain at London’s Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre on Friday evening.
As their male counterparts did just 24 hours earlier, Die Danas overturned a 2-0 deficit against the home favourites before emerging with a repeat of the men's score-line, with Ameline Wortmann, Nike Lorenz and Lena Micheel also on target for the visitors against the reigning Olympic champions.
Germany’s victory sees them climb up the FIH Pro League standings into fifth position in terms of their win percentage. However, with a points tally now higher than that of fourth placed Belgium, Germany are very much in contention for the top four finish required to secure berths in this month’s FIH Pro League Grand Final and the FIH Olympic qualifiers, which take place later this year. Great Britain’s hopes of securing a top four finish now look slim, with the team currently sitting seventh in the standings. To see the current women’s FIH Pro League standings, click here.
Great Britain (FIH World Ranking: 2) enjoyed the better of the opening stages and established a 2-0 lead thanks to a double strike from Player of the Match Tessa Howard, who had only scored once in her previous 16 senior international appearances. The 20-year-old opened the scoring in the tenth minute when she forced Germany (WR:5) goalkeeper Nathalie Kubalski into action before instinctively volleying home the follow up, adding a second at the start of the second period with a glancing deflection on Hannah Martin’s cross following a rare defensive error from Germany captain Janne Müller-Wieland.
Germany reduced the deficit four minutes before the half time when Amelie Wortmann delicately sliced the ball over returning GB goalkeeper Maddie Hinch, punishing the hosts for failing to clear their defensive lines. It sparked a period of dominance for the visitors, who finished the half strongly but could not find an equaliser ahead of the half-time hooter.
Die Danas found the leveller they were looking for when Nike Lorenz pounced after Wortmann had rattled the post in five minutes into the third quarter, but Great Britain reacted well and moved ahead again seven minutes into the fourth period when 18-year-old Isabelle Petter slammed into the roof of the Germany net from close range after fine build-up player from fellow teenager Esme Burge.
However, as was the case 24 hours ago when Great Britain and Germany’s men were in action, the visiting team would have the last laugh. A Great Britain defensive mix-up allowed Lena Micheel to pass into an unguarded net with six minutes remaining before Charlotte Stapenhorst forced home from close range with just 17 seconds left on the clock, ensuring that her team took all three points back to Germany.
“Now that was a game - wow”, said Stapenhorst after the match. “Being down 2-0, getting back, and what a crowd. It is really really nice playing here because it’s so intense. Every time GB has got the ball we can hear the shouting, so it was really nice that we won that. We really want to play in the Grand Final, no doubt about that. We are getting closer, I think.”
Great Britain head coach Mark Hager said: “That [result] really hurts. To fight so hard to get back in front, after being 2-0 up and then get to 3-2, I think we just made some silly errors. In the end we had the ball on our stick on quite a few occasions and we just gave it back to them and they punished us.”
The race for the top four in the FIH Pro League continues on Saturday (8 June) with a mouthwatering double header in Antwerp, as Belgium’s men and women host the Netherlands. To see the complete match schedule, click here.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Pro League via the event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
FIH Pro League
7 June - London, England
Result: Women’s Match 56
Great Britain 3, Germany 4
Player of the Match: Tessa Howard (GBR)
Umpires: Michelle Joubert (RSA), Carolina de la Fuente (ARG) and Coen van Bunge (NED - video)
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