Great Britain Women’s Team suffered a narrow 0-1 loss against hosts Spain in their second Group B match of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in Valencia on Sunday.
Spain’s Patricia Alvarez (51′) was the lone goal scorer of the match.
It was an evenly fought first quarter, with Spain having slightly better ball possession. The home side came up with the real attack in the eighth minute as they earned their first penalty corner of the match, but the GB defence stood tall to deny Spain from taking the lead. GB too drew their first penalty corner in the 11th minute, but the Spanish defence averted the danger to end the quarter in a 0-0 stalemate.
GB started the second quarter on the front foot and earned their second penalty corner of the match in the 16th minute but missed out on converting it. They enjoyed the ball possession for the majority of the second quarter. They had a series of penalty corner in the latter phase of the quarter but couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities – ending the first half at 0-0.
The start of the third quarter saw GB piling pressure on the home side with relentless attack and making dangerous runs inside their opponent’s half. They came very close to breaking the deadlock when both Laura Roper and Sarah Jones took back-to-back shots on target, but the Spanish goalie made a double save. The hosts also had an opportunity to take the lead on a counter-attack, but GB goalie Sabbie Heesh made a stunning double save to end the quarter at 0-0.
After three goalless quarters, both teams were hungry for a breakthrough and pushed each other from end to the other. It was Spain who managed to break the deadlock through a fiery strike from Alvarez in the 51st minute.
GB pushed hard for an equaliser in the dying minutes of the match creating ample of opportunities, but the hosts survived the danger, emerging winners of what was a closely fought contest.
GB Women will take on Malaysia in their third Group B match on January 16, 2024 at 13:15 UK Time, watch live on BBC sport and red button.
