FIH Pro League: England men beat South Africa as women triumph over Spain

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England's Nick Bandurak scores from a penalty cornerImage source, PA Media
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Nick Bandurak made his England debut in February and has now scored four goals

England's men beat winless South Africa before the women's side overcome Spain in the FIH Pro League.

The men's team made it three successive victories for the first time this season with a 4-2 triumph.

Nick Bandurak netted two penalty corners while Chris Griffiths and Sam Ward also scored.

The women's side claimed a 3-1 victory over Spain, with Maddie Hinch returning to the international game for the first time since the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The men led 3-0 at half-time thanks to Bandurak's brace and a third set-piece from Griffiths.

Captain Ward made it four with a field goal, before Matt Guise-Brown and Keenan Horne replied for South Africa.

"It was a fairly good game - it is a nice momentum build," man of the match Griffiths told BT Sport.

"Our penalty corners are our main threat at the moment. We want to score more outfield goals but the more corners we score, the more opportunities we'll give ourselves to win games."

England, who beat France twice last weekend, remain fourth in the table, with six wins from 11 games. But they close the gap on Germany and Argentina in second and third - who have both played 14 matches - to six points.

South Africa remain bottom having lost all 11 of their fixtures so far.

England women bounced back from last weekend's two losses against China with their success over Spain.

The deadlock was broken in the second quarter as Giselle Ansley sneaked a corner past Jana Martinez at the right post.

Lily Owsley then made it 2-0 before half time as she rounded the keeper before sliding a composed effort into the net.

Despite Spain pulling one back, a clean flick from Grace Balsdon on a penalty corner restored England's two-goal advantage.

Image source, PA Media
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England's women go three points ahead of Spain after Saturday's victory

Player of the match Flora Peel told BT Sport: "We needed a big team performance off the back of last weekend. We've got things to work on but we'll be happy with what we did out there."

Hinch, who helped Great Britain win gold at the 2016 Olympics, made her international return, but remained on the bench throughout the match.

The goalkeeper, 33, hasn't played since last summer's Olympics, though she has been plying trade in club games in Netherlands this season.

England's victory gave them a three-point lead over Spain in the table, having played two games fewer.

A win in the repeat fixture on Sunday would take them one point behind fourth-placed Germany with a game in hand.

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