GB women's hockey team beat Spain to seal New Zealand semi-final in Rio

Great Britain's women's field hockey team are celebrating a second consecutive last-four berth at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Danny Kerry's side, third-place finishers at London 2012, will meet New Zealand for a place in the final on Wednesday (17 August) after recording a comfortable 3-1 victory over Spain.

An early raft of penalty corners led to Georgie Twigg giving Team GB a first-quarter lead, while the experienced figure of Helen Richardson-Walsh doubled the advantage from close range after impressive work from the consistently impressive Sophie Bray. Lily Owsley scored her third goal of the tournament to date just before half-time.

Georgina Oliva reduced the arrears seven minutes from the end amid sustained Spanish pressure and the eventual winners were twice reduced to 10 players with both Shona McCallin and Giselle Ansley shown green cards for minor offences. However, they hung on to maintain their 100% record from six matches, a run that includes five straight Group B wins over the Unites States, Australia, Argentina, Japan and India.

New Zealand, known as the Black Sticks, lost to GB in the bronze medal match four years ago and were the only team to finish below them in June's Champions Trophy event held in London. Coached by Mark Hager, they came second in Group A with three wins before beating rivals Australia 4-2. Germany will face either defending champions the Netherlands or Argentina for a place in Friday's final after overcoming the USA 2-1.

In the men's semi-finals, the Dutch take on Belgium and Argentina play Germany on Tuesday. Team GB were eliminated after finishing fifth in their group.