England win in Golden Goal! 20-19

England have beaten the Czech Republic 20-19 in Golden Goal extra-time in the Quarter Final of the European Championships.

The winning goal was scored by Alexandra Derham. It was 19-19 after normal time. England were 3 down at half-time and at one point during the match six goals behind!

England will now play Belgium in the semi-final on Friday 31 October at 16:00 GMT. The match will be streamed live on the IKF’s YouTube channel.

Speaking to ‘All Access England Korfball’ immediately after the match, Alex Derham said “It feels surreal! It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, to be honest I’m still waiting for the free pass to be taken, but no, it’s incredible! the vibes of everyone – especially everyone running on afterwards and the team. Just incredible. Amazing! We held our nerve so well. The support from our bench was insane.

Looking forward to the semi-final match against Belgium Derham said: “I think we’ve got a good chance. Anything is possible – bring on the final I say!”

England captain Ben King said “What an amazing match. It’s moments like this that remind us why we all play sport. A perfect moment of sheer elation shared by an amazing squad. We can’t wait to play Belgium!”

In a post match interview England assistant coach Corinne Buckland said: “It was well deserved. A great team performance again. Alex [Derham] gave her opponent nothing and took everything she had”

Buckland also picked up on the support from the whole squad “But again a team performance on and off the pitch – it does make a difference!”

Vice captain Davesh Patel said “The Czech’s came storming out of the blocks with their girls in particular clinical with their shooting. After weathering the storm our girls found the right distance in defence and were able to nullify their attacks.

“Then it was a matter of clawing back the deficit making use of our strong squad to bring on fresh legs as well as matching up to our opposition tactically..

“Both teams did well to hold their nerve as the scoreline got close then once it reached golden girl our Alex game good and the place erupted!!! Great all round team effort but can go without mention to Charlie Vogwill who was simply unstoppable with his 7!”

The first semi-final is between The Netherlands and Portugal and will start at 14:00 GMT tomorrow (31 October).