England into semi-finals at a canter
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Hockey
BILL COLWILL
reports from Dublin
England 4 Belarus 0
England moved into the semi-finals of the European Championships yesterday with a convincing win against Belarus.
England found it difficult to prise open a tight defence which remained secure until the 20th minute when Rob Thompson glided Calum Giles' well- placed pass from a penalty corner past the Belarus goalkeeper.
Seven minutes later, after Nick Thompson was fouled by the Belarus captain, Russell Garcia converted the penalty to give England a 2-0 interval lead.
Two minutes into the second half England put the game beyond doubt when Nick Thompson scored with a reverse stick scoop. When John Shaw swept behind the Belarus defence in the 58th minute, Rob Thompson was available for the cross to collect his second goal of the game.
A delighted England coach, David Whitaker, said: "That's our first objective achieved - a semi-final place. Next it's a win against Switzerland to top the pool."
Ireland's faint hope of a semi-final place evaporated following their 1-1 draw with Poland.
ENGLAND: D Luckes (East Grinstead); P McGuire (Teddington), J Wyatt (Reading); S Hazlitt (Hounslow), S Singh (Southgate, capt), R Garcia (Polo Barcelona); J Shaw (Southgate), K Takher (Cannock), R Thompson (Hounslow), J Laslett (Teddington), N Thompson (Old Loughtonians). Substitutes used: C Giles (Havant), B Sharpe (Cannock).
BELARUS: V Vachkis; V Klatchkov; A Yukovets, V Kachkar (capt), A Vintskevitch; N Sankovets, D Yukovski, V Kholopov, A Boudnikov; Y Korotchenko, S Klimovitch. Substitutes used: I Barkov, A Mankovski, I Tsarev, L Oniyouk, S Urbanski.
Umpires: J Gorissen (Netherlands) and A Ayman (Egypt).
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments