Excellent hockey playing conditions for the first match of the second day of the Hero FIH Road to London: bright sunshine and cool (15C) temperature. Both teams played hard matches yesterday (narrow loss 1-2 for Poland against South Africa, hard fought tie for Italy 2-2 against Canada) and it took them a while to find their legs for this second match.

There was hardly any serious scoring opportunity in the first period, with play staying in midfield and unforced errors hampering the play of both teams.

Things started to heat up in second period, with a good run by Aleksandra BUGALA on the right wing, shooting just wide of the Italian goal. Immediately after, Giuliana RUGGERI collected the ball in the circle, managed to turn around in traffic and unleashed a reverse stick shot to open the scoring for Italy. Striker Alessia Doriana PADALINO added two goals in short succession and things looked brighter for Italy.

Poland pulled back a goal but play slowed down again, and Italy maintained a strong grip on the proceedings. Alessia Doriana PADALINO scored again, completing the first hat-trick of the competition, and Italy collected the 3 points for their clear win (4-1).

Player of the Match was Alessia Doriana PADALINO of Italy.