England win 21-18 against Russia

England overcame a one goal halftime deficit to beat Russia 21-18 in their opening match at the International Korfball Federation’s European Championships.

Speaking after the win England captain Ben King said “We are very happy with today’s performance. It was a real squad effort which we controlled very well towards the end.

“It certainly wasn’t a perfect performance but excellent debuts from some future England stars, we can’t wait to play Germany”

Otto Fabius who plays for Blauw-Wit in the Netherlands Korfbal League top scored for England with 5 goals, all from open play. Davesh Patel who wasn’t in coach Buckland’s starting team contributed 4 goals.

Reacting to the win England’s Steph Allen said “Great to get the first game under our belts as a win and great to see so many players step up in their senior debut. Plenty to work on but the squad is keen to develop throughout the competition and we are feeling confident that we can get a good result against Germany.

“What was great to see was how well the full use of the squad was with every player who came on making an impact which bodes well in long tournaments”

In the other match in England’s pool, current champions The Netherlands beat Germany 38-14.

There’s no rest for England, the next is against Germany today (Sunday 26) starting at 18:00 GMT. You can watch the match online on the IKF’s YouTube channel and follow the updates on the WorldKorfball.org tournament website.

Get involved on Twitter and search for #ENGvGER or the tournament hashtag #EKC14.