Hinch on hand to help England into quarter-finals of Hockey Women's World Cup

Maddie Hinch was on hand to help England into the quarter-finals of the Hockey Women's World Cup on Tuesday night.
Maddie HinchMaddie Hinch
Maddie Hinch

The West Chiltington-based goalkeeper kept a clean sheet as hosts England beat South Korea 2-0 in their crossover game at London’s Olympic Park.

Goals from Sophie Bray and Lily Owsley helped a dominant England to victory and set-up a quarter-final tie with the Netherlands today (Thursday - 8.15pm).

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And local girl Hinch made two crucial saves - one in the third quarter and one with minutes left - with the score at 1-0, to help her side to victory.

Hinch, who won Olympic gold in 2016 and bronze at the Commonwealth Games last year, will now be hopeful of overcoming world number one side the Netherlands on Thursday night in front of another sell out crowd of 10,000 at Lee Valley Hockey Centre and adding another medal to her collection.

England coach Danny Kerry: “I really enjoyed the first half. We absolutely smashed it.

“In the second half, we lost some shape up front, but the first half was fantastic.

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“We took away South Korea’s game. We didn’t allow them to set up big shapes. We forced them to play deep and then we turned them over and counter-attacked. That’s what I was most happy about.

“I knew the second half would be cagey as fatigue set in, but I’m a pretty proud coach. We have a few things up our sleeve for the Dutch.”

England recorded their first win of the competition on Sunday to finish second in Pool B and qualify for the knockout stages, albeit via the crossover game with Korea.

They ran out 1-0 winners over Ireland at Lee Valley thanks to a late goal from Giselle Ansley who fired home a drag-flick after 53 minutes.

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That proved sufficient for Kerry’s side, who went into the game knowing a draw would be enough to advance.

Ireland had already earned their place in the quarter-finals by winning the group thanks to wins over USA and India.

For England, however, there was more pressure. They needed a result in the final group game to make the knockouts after drawing both their opening games.

A late strike from Lily Owsley saw England come from behind to grab a point in a 1-1 draw in their World Cup opener with India.

They followed that up with another 1-1 draw with USA - a night where Alex Danson stole the show netting her 115th England goal and collecting her 200th cap.