On what hitherto had been a sunny day, the thunder clouds rolled in arround the Club de Campo ground here in Madrid this evening. There must be something about Cannock and the weather in Spain. The pre-match warm-up was interupted by a hailstorm which left the pitch covered in a silver dust of ice for about ten minutes (see our picture). But when play started the action on the pitch was hot enough to thaw the most hardened ice. Cannock, playing the host club for the poll position in Group B and a place in tomorrow's final, appeared to abandon yesterday's softly softly approach for a display of attacking hockey, including all the risks that it involves. The Midlanders opened accounts when World Cup hero Martin Jones netted in the eigth minute. Andrew Brogdon made it two after 24 minutes when he collected the ball from a free hit, moved off the backline and turned and fired an unstoppable shot passed Casanova in the Spainish goal. Clearly time well spent at Cannock on set pieces! The English side seemed to have the match sewn up but the scoreline was as much a reflection of some fine work by James Fair in the Cannock goal as the enterprise of his forwards. It was the penalty corner striking of Club de Campo, and in particular of their Argentinian international Jorg Lombi, that was nearly Cannock's undoing, first with a goal in the 44th Minute and the second with less than four minutes left on the clock. The game had been spoilt by some ill mannered play - Michael Johnson and Felipe Moreno both were sin-binned in the last minutes - and reports of some racist comments directed at Cannock's Hardeep Jawanda by the home supporters. The latter has been reported to the Tournament Director, but it was Jawanda who was to have the last laugh in this match. Cannock had to win to get to the final - a draw was not sufficient, and it was Jawanda who scored the winner with less than a minute left on the clock. Cannock will meet Amsterdam, who earlier had drawn 0-0 against German side Am der Alster. Although the scoreline may seem surprising, it is less so when one considers that the Dutch side would have had to lose by fourteen goals not to qualify for the final. As the man said, tournament are not won against the tough sides - they are won against the easy ones.
In the women's tournament, Canterbury will be playing Amsterdam's women tomorrow. I expected to be telling you that they would be playing each other in the final, but Club de Campo managed an 8-0 victory over Italian side Libertas and relegate Amsterdam to second place in Pool A on goal difference. The English girl's match against the German's of Rot-Weiss Cologne got off to a cracking start, with Mel Clewlow scoring in the fourth minute. Rot-Weiss seemed to have no answer to the Canterbury attack, seeming to be content to punt balls up the pitch to relieve the pressure on their twenty-five. But gradually they clawed their way back into the match. Maike Stockel manager to tip the ball over a prostrate Becky Duggan in the Canterbury goal from a penalty corner just before the break. Increased pressure brought a second penalty corner goal towards the end of play when Eileen Hoffman converted for the Germans. So, at their third attempt at European gold Canterbury are now left looking for a bronze but facing the very tough outfit from Amsterdam. (Our photograph shows Becky Duggan defending a first half attack).
Photographs from today's play will appear on our website at www.talkhockeyradio.co.uk next week.
