Mountney's hat-trick helps England to gold
From Neil Goulding in Prague
ENGLAND’S men defeated Germany 7-6 to win gold at
the European Championships here on Saturday. England led 5-1
at half-time, but Germany mounted a spirited comeback and
pushed Dave Elwood’s team the distance in a thrilling
encounter. Inspired by a hat-trick from Chris Mountney, England
were able to clinch their sixth title in seven years.
Paul Fullerton, the co-captain, who was nursing a tweaked
hamstring, was also on target with two goals, Steve Shanahan
and Sam Davidson also scoring. “All credit to the Germans,
they came here with a good game plan and made us work really
hard,” Elwood, the England head coach, said. “Our
players were very, very tired and I knew at the end of the
third quarter it was going to be a battle to win the title.
“But the team spirit and mental toughness this week
has been fantastic. As a team we have grown and the players
have worked for each other in every game.”
“Our attack has been brilliant and we scored some excellent
goals. Chris Mountney has led the way, but overall we have
moved the ball well and deserved to win this tournament.”
England’s women fought back from a 5-4 half-time deficit
to triumph 10-9 and win bronze as they beat the home team,
Czech Republic.
Wales won the women’s title with a 6-4 victory against
Scotland, while Scotland beat Sweden 12-10 to win bronze in
the men’s competition.
PRAGUE: European Championships: Men: Final:
England 7 Germany 6 (1-1, 4-0, 2-2, 0-3). Third place play-off:
Scotland 12 Sweden 10 (2-4, 3-2, 5-1, 2-3). Women: Final:
Scotland 4 Wales 6 (3-5, 1-1). Third place play-off: England
10 Czech Republic 9 (4-5, 5-4).
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