England look for Wales win to break losing duck
Lois Richardson, the England head coach, is backing her team
to find some form and grab their first victory in the World
Championship, today, against Wales.
England have been beaten by defending champions United States
and Australia, opponents who are both tipped for gold-medal
success.
But even though England could not have had a harder start
to the championship campaign, Richardson is well aware that
her side can’t afford to drop their heads with such
a crucial clash just around the corner.
“Our heads have dropped at times, but we can’t
afford to do that,” said Richardson.
“This World Championship is a big learning curve for
a lot of the players and it’s how we respond from here
and these two defeats.
“The US were expected to beat us and we knew Australia
would be tough to beat, but never expected them to beat us
by the scoreline that they eventually did, especially having
led 3-2.
“But we can look forward to the Wales match and I’m
confident we can win. There’s no easy match but a win
would be confidence. It isn’t easy when you lose.”
Richardson is hoping the tough exposure to the World Championship
stage, where mistakes are quickly punished, has already had
a profound affect on her team. She hopes they will now “raise
their games”.
“We’ve only got three players with World Cup
experience and some of the girls are getting found out a little,”
added Richardson.
“We can’t rely on our experienced players every
match to help us win, it has to be a team effort.
“Everyone has to be in there fighting, gritting their
teeth trying to make it happen for us.”
Indeed, and Richardson believes that a victory over Wales
would be the perfect tonic ahead of Monday’s showdown
with Canada, beaten by the US today.
“If we beat Wales then we’ll go into the Canada
match full of confidence. It’s not going to be an easy
game, both teams will want to win.
“We just need to get to the semi-final stages and then
anything can happen from there on in.
“We’ve got a full-strength team and the girls
have some time to reflect on what’s happened and come
back strong from this.
"I know they can do it. We’ve come here to win
a medal.”
WOMEN, Lacrosse World Championship (Annapolis, Maryland):
England 4 Australia 15 (half scores 3-7, 1-8); Japan 26 New
Zealand 1 (14-1, 12-0); United States 15 Canada 7 (5-2, 10-5);
Scotland 14 Czech Republic 2 (7-1, 7-1); Australia 17 Canada
2 (9-0, 8-2); Wales 4 United States 11 (2-6, 2-5); Czech Republic
21 New Zealand 6 (7-2, 14-4); Japan 17 Germany 2 (12, 5-2);
England 5 United States 13 (3-9, 2-4); Scotland 19 Germany
3 (12-2, 7-1); Japan 12 Czech Republic 1 (3-1, 9-0); Wales
5 Canada 12 (3-4, 2-8).
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