England: Grant's Holiday Hat-Trick 
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| England |
April 20, 2003
Pat Rowley
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By: Patrick Rowley
World Cup forward Helen Grant, a late replacement for the sick Mel Clewlow, scored her first international hat-trick as an experimental England side defeated Wales 3-0 in the first of three week-end internationals against the Welsh at Cardiff.
With England resting half their World Cup side, Grant had expected a week-end off but instead she put England ahead in the 8th minute and added further goals in the 27th and 68th minutes.
Her first goal came from a corner. England took advantage of the new corner rule that does not require the ball to be stopped before a shot. It was played outside the circle by Rachel Walsh and Grant cracked home after taking the ball into the ‘d’.
Grant and Ipswich’s Jo Ellis exchanged passes to set up Grant’s second goal and her third came from Kerry Moore’s pass.
England gave first caps to two players, Vanessa Hawkins (Olton) and tall goalkeeper Beckie Duggan (Woking). Wales’ best player was Clifton forward Sarah Thomas.
English League champions Slough Ladies, a goal behind against Russian champions Sintez Dzerjinsk with just over four minutes to play, snatched a dramatic 3-1 victory in their second match at the European Cup Winners Cup in Rotterdam.
Their second victory puts them in a strong position to qualify for Monday’s final. They are three points clear of Simtez and Grange Edinburgh Ladies and need a point against the Scottish club today to be sure of heading their group.
Slough were a goal behind in three minutes, Elena Svirskaya scoring for Simtez after a rare Slough defensive error. From then on Slough battered away but were continually frustrated by Simtez’s goalkeeper Anna Radomskaya.
Having failed to profit from 13 penalty corners, Slough eventually scored from their last three. Louise Bevan applied the finishing touch to their 14th and 15th while Kate Walsh’s shot at their 16th won a penalty stroke which was converted by Jane Smith.
A relieved Lesley Hobley, the Slough coach, commented, “At least we dictated the whole game. We stopped them doing what they did well against Grange the day before. Fiona Greenham and Kate Walsh effectively shut out Chegurdaeva, their most dangerous player”.
Grange, who were beaten 4-1 by Simtez on Friday, defeated Vilnius (Lithuania) 4-1 yesterday with a hat-trick by player/coach, Sue Gilmour.
Surbiton were also winners in the men’s event at Terrassa in Spain though never convincing in defeating the French club Saint Germain 4-0. Having lost 2-0 to Egara on Friday, they need a remarkable turn round in form in their final group match today, against group leaders Alster of Germany, to have any chance of a medal.
Promising Matt Daly put Surbiton ahead against St Germain after 15 minutes. New England international Ben Hawes drag flicked for a corner goal in each half while Scot James Burns snatched their third goal.
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