FIH Pro League: England men beat France for second time in two days while women lose to China
- Published
Nick Bandurak scored twice on his home debut against France
England's men beat France for the second time in two days, while the women's side went down to China in the FIH Pro League.
The men's team produced an impressive performance to win 4-1, 24 hours after defeating the same opponents 5-4.
Nick Bandurak netted twice on his home debut with David Condon and Sam Ward also on the scoresheet.
Meanwhile, the women's side went ahead through Grace Balsdon but China proved too strong and came back to win 3-1.
The men served up an excellent show for supporters at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, with this weekend marking the first Pro League matches in front of home supporters for 931 days.
They went ahead when Bandurak put away a penalty corner for his first England goal on home soil.
He made it 2-0 after dragging home a corner off the inside of the post before Matt Ramshaw missed a big chance.
It was 3-0 when Condon rifled home only for Timothee Clement to pull one back.
England though put together a fine move that saw Ramshaw pushed over inside the D, and Ward made no mistake with the penalty stroke.
It was a different story in the women's game despite Balsdon giving England the lead after beating the dive of Ping Liu in the China goal.
However, China were level when goalkeeper Sabbie Heesh made a challenge that was deemed to be a deliberate foul when one-on-one, and Bingfeng Gu slotted home the penalty stroke.
The visitors took the lead when Xindan Zhang produced a moment of real quality to finish on the reverse high into the net.
England continued to battle but China were always a threat on the counter and Yang Cheno made it 3-1 after a corner.
The men's team host South Africa next week while the women take on Spain.
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