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International : Europe : France

MEC: England survive but Scots go down

England

September 2, 2005

BBC Sport, UK
> Page Views 21405

England pulled off a deserved 3-0 victory over Poland in the European Nations Championships to stave off the threat of relegation.
The result means England qualify for next year's World Cup qualifier and the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

But there was no such luck in Leipzig for Scotland, who slid to a costly 4-2 defeat at the hands of France.

The loss saw Scotland drop down to the second tier of competition and fail to reach next year's World Cup qualifier.

Mark Ralph had put the Scots ahead in the fifth minute and his brother David doubled the lead just after half-time.

But Frederic Soyez and Stephane Jaquet grabbed two goals to equalise before Alexis Collon hit the winning shot.

Rob Moore converted a second-minute penalty to set England on their way to a crucial win before adding a second with a reverse-stick shot.

Barry Middleton wrapped up the win by converting Ben Hawes' penalty corner.

England now face a fifth-place play-off against Scotland's French conquerors on Saturday.

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Comments on this article

c brown 09-03-2005��1:03 pm	Report this post
`article - england survive but scots go down Error - second sentence:- England qualify for next years world cup qualifier and GREAT BRITAIN qualify for the Beijng Olympics in 2008, ie GB team for Olympics is not just the England team.`

WRONG! 09-04-2005��1:47 am	Report this post
`c brown Neither GB or England have qualified for the Beijing Olympics! For GB to qualify automatically England must win the 2007 European Nations Cup or if not finish high enough to be eligible to particiapate at the 2008 Olympic Qualifiers. At this stage the only teams qualified for Beijing are the Chinese men and women.`

Correction 09-04-2005��4:43 am	Report this post
`ACTUALLY.... I think that you'll find that England QUALIFIED for the Olympics, but GB will be the team playing & therefore the sentence is correct. So all those Scots that get into the team: thank ENGLAND for your place in that squad coz without them YOU WOULD NOT BE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!! (Shameful performance from both teams at this event tho....)`

NLM 09-05-2005��6:03 am	Report this post
`arrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhh How can there be so much confusion about something so simple england have qualified for the world cup qualifier, which in turn if successful will mean a chance to play in the olympic qulaifier event.`

DOH! 09-06-2005��1:50 am	Report this post
`C Brown I cannot think of one sporting event that would have a qualifier 3 years before the event?!? This just does not make sense...`

MT
09-06-2005��2:48 am Report this post

So simple! Qualification for the Olympics & the Qualifier is based on continental rankings. Europe will probably have 5-6 teams at the 2008 Olympics, with the top ranked sides in the continent represented. Had England been relegated from the "A division" of European competition last week, they would not have been in the 2007 European Championship, from which the winners qualify for the Olympics, with the next 5-6 teams making the qualifier. GB would take England's place at the qualifier, should they make it. There is a chance that the FIH will alter qualification criteria at their next conference, but that is far from certain.

yes...but 09-06-2005��5:30 am	Report this post
`rethink How is it that a team that finished fourth in their group are able to retain their place in the A division but a team who came within a hairs breadth of the semi-finals end up being relegated to the B division, am i the only one that thinks something is seriously wrong there?!`

P 09-09-2005��6:23 am	Report this post
`Yes But All sides knew the rules prior to competing. Scotland won one game against the Auld enemy but failed to back it up AGAIN!! England won when it mattered most.`

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