LONDON - Unibet EuroHockey Championships men.
16 GER v ENG (Semi Final Match)
Foto: Mats Grambusch and Martin Zwicker after the 1-1
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Shoot out woe for England as Germany head for the finals

GER v ENG 2-2 (3-2 after shoot-out)

The familiar story – a game of two halves and then the Germans win in a shoot-out. After an epic tussle, Markus Weise’s side prevailed against England 3-2 after normal time had ended locked at 2-2.

Mats Grambusch and Nicolas Jacobi were the heroes as the former coolly converted and the goalkeeper denied Sam Ward to seal the victory. It sets up a classic decider against the Netherlands on Saturday afternoon as they bid to win their ninth European title.

It was level pegging virtually all the way with an initial English lead cancelled out quickly before a stunning last three minutes that saw Lukas Windfeder put the Germans in front only for Ashley Jackson to equalise from the penalty spot., making it 2-2.

A crackerjack first half ended 1-1 courtesy of a pair of short-range finishes as the game raced from end to end. England had the best of the early stages with David Condon drawing the best from Nicolas Jacobi while Chris Griffiths thrashed a big chance wide.

To keep them honest, Marco Miltkau’s brilliant effort on the spin was smothered by George Pinner who spread himself well. But England kept pushing forward and shook off a penalty stroke decision that was turned away on video review to take the lead in the 20th minute.

Adam Dixon pounced on a loose clearance and jinked his way to the baseline before laying on the perfect pass for Mark Gleghorne to redirect home.

It awoke the Germans who began to use their immense speed up front with Florian Fuchs and Christopher Ruhr causing a major nuisance. Indeed, Ruhr’s aerial juggling and fiery reverse-stick shot was one of the key features of the half.

For the most part, the English defence held firm but Markus Weise’s side drew level in the last minute before the big break. Niklas Wellen’s cross was the impetus, helped on by Mats Grambusch and Martin Zwicker was on hand to shovel the ball under Pinner.

The pace slowed somewhat in the third quarter though Jacobi was called on to deny Ashley Jackson’s low drag-flick with a fine stick save to keep the sides level.

It set up a dramatic final stanza, one in which Germany held the possession for long periods but struggled to penetrate while England looked dangerous on the counter.

Picking off ragged passes from defence, Sam Ward was blocked out by Jacobi while Martin Haner needed to make some key interventions to keep it locked at 1-1.

And Windfeder snatched the lead with just over three minutes to go with a powerful corner flick that sent Pinner the wrong way and nestled in the net.

England immediately won a corner but Jackson’s effort on goal was charged down and the danger briefly abated. Another corner followed, though, from Mark Gleghorne’s ballooned up off Jacobi’s pads and Barry Middleton’s attempt to volley in the rebound was impeded by Tobias Hauke, leading to a penalty stroke.

Under immense pressure, Jackson potted the penalty stroke, sending the game to the ultimate shoot-out. Germany go on to the final while England will play Ireland for bronze.

“If you win titles, you go into these games with confidence,” said Christopher Ruhr. “But that was really tough tonight, one of the closest matches  we have played against England, he added.

“Obviously we are initially disappointed,” said Dan Fox, “But I think that on reflection we will see that the gap between us and Germany, in fact us and any other team is non-existent. We used to lose games like this because we had not played well or were well off our opponents and that simply wasn’t the case tonight.”