Men's Champions Trophy
Venue: Monchengladbach, Germany Dates: 31 July - 8 August
Final coverage: Live on the BBC Sport website and red button (cable and satellite only, not Freeview), 1400 BST

England have reached the final of the Champions Trophy for the first time after they won their last round-robin match and other results went their way.

Richard Smith's late goal earned them a 4-3 win over New Zealand, but they then had to hope the results of the two other matches worked out well for them.

Germany lost 1-0 to the Netherlands and then Australia, who were already in the final, beat Spain 3-1.

That result ensured it is England who will face Australia in Sunday's final.

England had never even reached the third place play-off match in the tournament before, and their achievement in reaching the final is all the more remarkable considering they lost their opening game 4-2 against Germany, then drew 2-2 with Spain before going down 3-2 to Australia.

But a 4-3 win over the Dutch kept their slim hopes of success alive, albeit dependent on the result of others, and they followed this up with a dramatic win over the Black Sticks.

Surbiton's James Tindall gave England a dream start against the Kiwis, scoring after only 19 seconds, but Andy Hayward levelled things from a penalty corner on seven minutes.

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Reading's Simon Mantell restored England's lead in the 21st minute, before Tindall netted his second from close range on the half-hour mark to put England in control.

Hayward found the net again on 41 and 65 minutes, before England piled on the pressure in search of a late winner.

And they got it from the third of a series late penalty corners, Smith flicking home low into the bottom right corner.

Netherlands' 1-0 win over Germany ended the hosts' hopes of reaching the final, meaning it all went down to the last game between Australia and Spain, with the Kookaburras easing to a 3-1 win.

England assistant coach coach Bobby Crutchley admitted their win over New Zealand had not been easy on the eye but he was happy with the outcome.

"It wasn't pretty but it was a lot hotter than it has been and I think that contributed to both sides playing a bit scrappily at times," he said.

"We put ourselves under pressure but the guys fought hard again and got the victory, which is nice. It will be nice not to be playing in the fifth/sixth playoff game."

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