England beat Dutch in Euro semi

England reached the EuroHockey Nations Championships final for the first time in 22 years with a dramatic 2-1 win over hosts the Netherlands.

With less than a minute left, Simon Mantell cut in off the left baseline and fired a shot across goal which Ashley Jackson sent past Guus Vogels.

England had taken the lead on 31 minutes through James Tindall but Taeke Taekema levelled it up on 49 minutes.

Germany beat Spain 2-1 in the second semi-final in Amstelveen.

"When we arrived, securing a place in the top four and the World Cup was our priority," said England assistant coach Bobby Crutchley.

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"Most of our guys haven't played in a semi-final at this level before so today was a challenge.

"In all honesty, we were too passive for too long in the middle of the game but our defence was strong and James Fair in goal was superb.

"Towards the end of the match we returned to playing our own game and it clearly reaped rewards for us. We created a couple of chances before Ashley scored and we were obviously delighted about his goal."

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