Great Britain put in what was arguably their best performance of the Olympic Hockey Tournament this morning when the men took on fifth ranked Korea. Although GB looked competitive throughout the match, it was not until the second half that they went up a gear and gave us a demonstration in hockey which their critics would say should have started two weeks ago. Barry Middleton struck home a cross in the 44th minute but watchers might have been forgiven for not getting too excited. The opening scorers in this tournament have frequently gone on to lose the match and a penalty corner strike by Jong Hyun Jang could be read as a warning sign. On 1-1, the ever industrious Richard Alexander found himself with the ball near to the penalty spot but was promptly upended by Dong Sik Ko in the Korean goal. Ashley Jackson stepped up to take the resulting stroke and made no mistake. It was then that the ever threatening Jonty Clarke worked some magic, first deflecting a Stephen Dick cross into the net, followed by a one-man effort where he dribbled around Myung Ho Lee (who had been substituted in the Korean goal for KO) and popped the ball into the goal. It was not all over for the Koreans, who managed to convert a penalty corner via Hyw Sung Hyun to bring the score to 4-2, but in the dying seconds of the match a Glenn Kirkham cross hit the foot of a Korean defender and was deflected into the Korean goal. Final score 5-2 to Great Britain and a fifth place finish in the Olympic Hockey Tournament.
A report on the final and bronze medal matches will appear on this blog later today.
