Maddie Hinch insists England Women can look back on their Champions Trophy campaign with pride after defeating China in a dramatic shoot-out to seal fifth place.
England found the going tough in Argentina from the word go, the Glasgow 2014 silver medallists picking up just one point in their three pool games after drawing with Germany and losing to Australia and Argentina.
That meant Hinch and co faced New Zealand in their quarter-final, England going down 3-1 to the eventual third-place finishers.
After defeat to the Kiwis the highest England could finish was fifth and they ensure they did exactly that with a 3-1 win over Japan before triumphing against China.
Against China there was nothing between the sides in Argentina as the game ended 1-1 and the shoot-out went to sudden death before Hinch saved from Peng Yang and Laura Unsworth wrapped up the 3-2 victory.
And the goalkeeper Hinch insists she relished the drama of a shoot-out in the team’s final game.
“We have a habit of getting into these things,” she said. “We’re becoming more and more comfortable as a team, so I was looking forward to doing my part for the girls.
“I was a little bit disappointed with the goal I conceded so I thought I better step up and makes sure we win this.
“We’re a young group, we’ve struggled a little bit with injuries and I think, to be honest, we’ve put in some great performances here.
“Results haven’t quite gone our way but it’s the top eight in the world – it’s always going to be a tough one and I think we’ve got a lot of positives to take back home with us.”
© Sportsbeat 2014