Goal difference decides Gibraltar women’s fate in group

Gibraltar women’s senior national hockey team will be disappointed to be playing for third and fourth place after suffering a solitary defeat in the group stage of the EuroHockey Championship Qualifier II.
After beating both Hungary and Finland, Gibraltar faced Luxembourg on Saturday morning.
An early goal from Reighan Olivero gave Gibraltar the lead, but it was not enough as Luxembourg responded with a goal in each of the remaining three quarters to secure a 3-1 victory.
Level on points with both Hungary and Luxembourg, Gibraltar dropped to third place in the group on goal difference, with the 3-1 defeat proving decisive in determining their final group position.
Gibraltar will now face Finland in the third and fourth place play-off, missing out on the opportunity to secure promotion to the EuroHockey Championship Qualifier I tier.
Hungary, who had beaten Luxembourg 4-2 the previous day after losing to Gibraltar, went on to score 11 goals against Finland in their final group match to finish top of the group. Luxembourg also finished on six points but with a goal difference of +3 compared to Gibraltar’s +2, with the tightest of margins deciding the final group standings.