The Netherlands won an unparalleled five in-a-row as first half goals form Pien Dicke and Luna Fokke set them up for a famous 2-1 win over Germany at a packed SparkassenPark.
It took just five minutes to get on the scoreboard. The initial attack was typically swift and piercing, Xan de Waard and Joosje Burg combining to get the ball into the danger zone in front of goal where it got stuck amid a melee of sticks.
Dicke remained calmest in the chaos and poked the ball through the gap to make it 1-0.
Luna Fokke doubled the lead in the second quarter with a deft touch after Yibbi Jansen’s diagonal overhead pass into the D went to de Waard. Her shot angled across the goal where the jumping Fokke was able to redirect the ball in.
The Danas came out fighting in the second half and they were level from their first penalty corner in the 35th minute, Lisa Nolte delivering the power and a Dutch stick the ricochet that wrong-footed the goalkeeper.
But hopes of building on that momentum were abruptly slowed a few seconds later with Sara Strauss taking a 10-minute yellow card when she went to ground in a tackle.
Strauss was right back into the action after her suspension and cracked a shot at goal which Anne Veenendaal saved well.
Jansen did see a drag-flick repelled and Freeke Moes flashed a ball across the face of goal from a big chance as the game stayed in the balance right until the final whistle.
But the Dutch held on to become the first side to win the title five times in succession as the hosts had to settle for a silver medal for the eighth time.
Player of the tournament: Yibbi Jansen (Netherlands)
Goalkeeper of the tournament: Clara Perez (Spain)
U21 Talent of the tournament: Camille Belis (Belgium)
Top goalscorer: Yibbi Jansen (Netherlands) – 6 goals
Women’s EuroHockey Championships – final standings
1. Netherlands
2. Germany
3. Spain
4. Belgium
5. England
6. Scotland
7. France
8. Ireland
