Belgium’s Red Lions faced Great Britain again today for their second test game of the week. After an outstanding performance, winning (5-1) on Tuesday under a pleasant sun, the question was whether they would perform equally well in the rain and the grey Belgian weather.
The game started well for the Belgians, with a quick first penalty corner. Unfortunately, Alex Hendrickx’s drag-flick lacked power.
Van Doren stands strong
The British attacked more and more, Loïc Van Doren forced into a nice save with the glove to keep the ball out of his goal. British pressure continued, while the Red Lions were too imprecise in their passing.
This competition gave the opportunity to see the young Maxime Van Oost at work for the first time in the Belgian defence. He had some work to do at the start of the second quarter, with four circle penetrations and two PCs for the British. Fortunately, none of these opportunities hit, but it was time the Lions started winning more duels and recovering more balls.
Red Lions take the fight to Great Britain
In the start of the second half, the Belgians emerged more aggressively, but their play was still too incoherent to seriously upset the British goalkeeper. Defensively, they put the pressure on well, but the build-up still failed too often, while the British came close to a goal. In the 43rd minute, Belgium won a PC, and although the strike seemed strong, the shot was well countered. Just like Loïc Van Dooren countered the last PC of this quarter.
In the last quarter, the pace on the Belgian side increased significantly, giving the British less space and time. And in the end, the Red Lions managed to open the score after a beautiful cross by Antoine Kina for a diving Tom Boon to convert at full stretch (1-0). And one minute before the end, Arthur De Sloover nicely controlled a high pass from Arthur Van Doren on the left and found a left alone Nicolas De Kerpel in the opponent’s circle. The British had taken their keeper out of the game so that the Antwerp resident had little trouble doubling the score. Final score 2-0.
