Hockey: England miss chance

England 1 Spain 1

"WE MADE it difficult for ourselves," was the understatement of the year from England's captain, Karen Brown, after their disappointing 1-1 draw with Spain on the opening day of the European Nations Cup.

After sharing the opening exchanges, England found themselves a goal down after eight minutes when Lucia Lopez deflected Spain's first penalty corner into the roof of the net.

England thereafter dominated, but it was not until four minutes into the second half that Lucilla Wright rammed home the equaliser from England's fourth penalty corner.

England continued to control the game in midfield but their poor finishing cost them points they may well come to regret.

Ireland went down 3-2 to Ukraine, for whom Tetyana Kobzenko scored a hat trick.

ENGLAND: H Rose (Sutton Coldfield); M Nicholson (Slough), F Greenham (Slough), M Clewlow (Canterbury), L Catchpole (Ipswich); J Smith (Slough), S Chandler (Slough), K Brown (Slough); J Sixsmith (Sutton Coldfield), L King (Ipswich), T Cullen (Hightown). Substitutes used: K Bowden (Fyffes Leicester), L Wright (Olton), H Richardson (Fyffes Leicester), K Walsh (Hightown).

SPAIN: E Carrion; E Eurquizu; A Gonzalez, C Barea, C Martin; I Imbers, M Telleria (capt), S Barrio; N Camon, M Feito, L Lopez.Substitutes used: N Moreno, C Gonzalez, S de Ignacio, S Munoz.

Umpires: J. Buchanan (South Africa) and A Royaards (Netherlands).

WOMEN'S EUROPEANS NATIONS CUP (Cologne) First day pool B: England 1 Spain 1; Ukraine 3 Ireland 2; Germany 7 Czech Republic 0.