EuroHockey: England men lose out to the Netherlands in dramatic final

Sam Ward found the back of the net from an open play

The England men's team suffered disappointment after losing 2-1 to the Netherlands in the EuroHockey final in Germany.

The team had beaten the hosts on Friday to reach their first final since 2009.

But Derck de Vilder put the Dutch ahead after nine minutes and Duco Telgenkamp extended the lead in the third quarter.

Sam Ward gave England hope early in the fourth but Nick Bandurak saw his penalty twice saved by the Dutch keeper in a dramatic climax to the game.

With the Netherlands down to 10 men, England took off their goalkeeper to put on an extra outfield player as they chased an equaliser.

They found the net but the goal was disallowed and a penalty stroke was awarded on a video referral by the Dutch.

Bandurak's shot was saved, but the stroke was re-awarded on a video referral by England. However, they couldn't capitalise on it as Bandurak's second attempt was also defended.

With the seconds ticking down, England had a series of penalty corners, but couldn't take advantage of the opportunities.

"It's a very tough way to end the competition," said England captain David Ames.

"Finals come down to small margins. I think we had a little bit of a moment of chaos with the video referral. I'm not sure we played as well as we could have in the first half but played pretty well in the second half and I think we deserved to get back into the game."

England's women lost 3-0 to Germany on Saturday in their play-off for bronze.