EuroHockey: England men beat Austria to keep alive semi-final hopes

James Albery doubled England's lead from a penalty corner

England's men kept alive their hopes of reaching the EuroHockey semi-finals by beating Austria 3-0 on Monday.

England lost 5-3 to Olympic champions Belgium in their first pool game in Monchengladbach, Germany, on Sunday.

But they kickstarted their campaign against Austria, who lost 5-0 to Spain in their opener.

Austria stood firm in the first half but James Oates made the breakthrough on 36 minutes before James Albery and Nick Bandurak goals sealed victory.

England dominated possession in the first half and Oates was twice denied a goal, while David Goodfield blocked an Austrian effort at goal following a penalty corner.

Austria made a strong start to the third quarter but Oates broke the deadlock from his third attempt.

Albery's well-timed pass found Oates on the edge of the D and he managed to convert with a short swing on a back-foot strike.

Austria hit back to earn a penalty corner on 38 minutes, only for Tom Sorsby to block on the line, and Albery doubled England's lead on 49 minutes with a powerful strike from a penalty corner.

England went down to 10 men as Zach Wallace was shown a green card but they completed the scoring as Bandurak converted Tim Nurse's pass on 57 minutes.

Player of the match Nick Park said: "We were fairly disappointed with our loss yesterday and we definitely wanted a reaction.

"To be fair to Austria, they put out a strong defence and we struggled to convert chances in the first half, but we can't really complain to come through with a win.

"We work hard back at our centre in Bisham Abbey and we felt like we were a really fit team and we really came into our own in the second half."

Spain play Belgium later on Tuesday (19:30 BST) before facing England in their final group game on Wednesday.

"A lot of the team have been at this level of competition before, and we'll back ourselves going into the game against Spain," Park added.

England women also have a chance of reaching the semi-finals as they play Scotland in their final pool game on Tuesday.