Women's Hockey World Cup, Argentina
Dates: 29 August - 11 September
Coverage: Watch Saturday's bronze medal play-off live on the BBC Sport website from 2030 BST; full replay of the match on BBC Red Button on Sunday

England missed out on their first World Cup final with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out semi-final loss to reigning world and Olympic champions the Netherlands.

The Dutch dominated possession with England goalkeeper Beth Storry the busiest player on the pitch.

Hannah Macleod shot England ahead only for Janneke Schopman to level and take the game to 15 minutes of extra time.

With no more goals scored, it went to a shoot-out where captain Kate Walsh and Charlotte Craddock missed for England.

That left Kim Lammers to fire home the decisive stroke.

Head coach Danny Kerry said: "We've got a team of 18 players out there who are absolutely gutted. They put their heart and soul into it and we couldn't be more proud of them."

The outcome was harsh on an England side whose place in the semi-finals had already guaranteed they would at least match their best World Cup performance, a fourth place finish in 1990.

Their opponents came into the match unbeaten in the tournament, and showed why as they had the upper hand for much of the game, but Storry's exploits kept the scoreline intact.

With 14 minutes to go, England looked on course for an historic victory.

Crista Cullen fired in a cross from the right wing and Macleod slid in at the near post to get the vital touch.

But it was a short-lived lead, as Dutch captain Schopman thumped her side level from their fifth penalty corner of the match, ensuring the match went to extra time.

The best chance of extra time came when Lammers failed to connect with Marilyn Agliotti's cross, with the open goal at her mercy, as the game drifted inevitably towards a shoot-out.

England conceded the advantage in the shoot-out when skipper Walsh had a shot saved, and then Craddock saw her effort blocked by the feet of Floortje Engles.

Storry kept out Lidewij Welten's effort to keep England's hopes alive, but Lammers was not to be denied, and her goal put her team in the final against either Germany or tournament hosts Argentina.

Afterwards, goalkeeper Storry said the team were devastated by the loss.

"Words can't describe how we feel," she said.

"We played well as a team, the best we have played so far. We outperformed Holland, we're just really disappointed.

"We fought with everything we had and we'll keep our heads held high in the third place play-off.

"We are continuing to improve at every stage and every tournament."

England's next game will be the bronze medal play-off on Saturday against Germany.

Live video coverage of the match will be on the BBC Sport website from 2025 BST. Highlights of the match will be available on the BBC red button from midnight and looped after, and will be available at bbc.co.uk/hockey.

The Netherlands' opponents in Saturday's final will be Argentina after they went through with a 2-1 win over the Germans in the second semi-final.

It will be a repeat of the Champions Trophy final in Nottingham in July when Argentina beat the Dutch 4-2 for their third successive title.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version