England on a roll at European Championships
England outclass Germans
By Neil Goulding in Prague
England's men turned on the style to beat Germany and secure
first place in the Blue Group of the European championships
last night.
Having won three on the bounce, Dave Elwood's team made a
shaky start and trailed 3-1 midway through the second quarter.
But the five-time European champions, who had already secured
a semi-final berth, bounced back to level the quarter and
never looked back as they won 14-4.
Chris Mountney, Dan Green and Richard Wilson all scored hat-tricks,
while Andy Brickell, Sam Davidson, Chris Bland, Steve Shanahan
and goalkeeper Ben McAllister were also on the mark.
England now play the Czech Republic tonight, in their last
group match, hoping to stretch their impressive winning run
to five games on the bounce.
"Once we stepped up the tempo they just couldn't live
with us," said Elwood.
England will meet the winner of the Cyan Group on Friday
in this year's first final, with Ireland or Finland their
likely opponents.
England's women have been drawn against the Czech Republic
and Scotland in the second phase, knowing that only two victories
will be enough to secure a place in Saturday's final.
Wales's men made history when they beat Scotland for the
first time in a major international event. Paul Simpson scored
five times in an 8-7 triumph, secured 30 seconds from the
final whistle.
Lacrosse
PRAGUE, Czech Republic: European Championships: Men:
Blue group: England 14 Germany 4. Cyan group:
Netherlands 14 Italy 2; Finland 9 Latvia 3; Wales 8 Scotland
7. Women: Group Y: Denmark 0 Scotland B 21.
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