Spain join the Netherlands on top of Group 4

It was a vocal crowd that welcomed the Netherlands to Logrono, Spain for Sunday’s Women’s EHF EURO 2014 Round 4 qualification match against the host country.

The pressure was on for both teams, but it was Spain that achieved their goal with a substantial win of 29:22 and kept the Netherlands from what could have been an early qualification for the EHF EURO 2014 in Hungary and Croatia in December.

Spain capitalised on a slow start by the Dutch and never looked back

The Spain team were dangerous from the first whistle, attacking at full speed and putting on significant pressure in defence, whilst the Netherlands played an unsteady game until the 10th minute.

By the 15th minute, the Netherlands were within two goals at 9:7, resulting in a hotly-contested match until the last ten minutes of the half, when Spain lifted and began to pull ahead once more.

Spain’s Beatriz Fernandez Ibanez led her team in attack, scoring a number of superb long-range goals.

Though the Netherlands managed to finish the half strong, it concluded with Spain in the lead at 16:14.

Buoyed by magnificent goalkeeping, Spain dominated the second half

Spain seized the opportunity to increase their lead from the beginning of the second half, allowing the Netherlands to score just eight goals in the second thirty minutes.

Once again, the Netherlands were slow to start, a fact not helped by the blinding performance of Spanish goalkeeper Silvia Navarro Gimenez.

The Netherlands were kept from scoring until the 44th minute, by which time Spain had already scored seven and had a convincing lead at 23:15.

The Netherlands slowly began levelling the score, but Spain’s determination, buoyed by the continued strong performance of Navarro Gimenez, was too much to counter.

Spain scored several goals for every one of the Dutch, resulting in a comfortable last five minutes for the team and a final score of 29:22.

The highest scorers of the match for Spain were their imposing shooters: Alexandrina Cabral Barbosa, with eight goals, followed by Elisabeth Chavez Hernandez and Fernandez Ibanez on five goals each.

Antje Angela Malestein was the highest scorer for the Dutch with five goals.

Spain and the Netherlands now sit equally at the top of Group 4, with six points each. Both teams are in a strong position to qualify when the final rounds continue in June.