There has always been something of the caveman about James Tindall, and two red-mist moments during this tournament will inevitably lead to accusations that he has deprived Great Britain of three potential points and the medal place that would have gone with them. On Wednesday it was Tindall who gave away the late penalty corner that earned the Netherlands their winning goal and Tindall a spell in the sin-bin. On that occasion you could put it down to just clumsiness or a surfeit of enthusiasm. But the foul on Canadian skipper Robert Short in Great Britain’s match against Canada is hard to explain away. It is difficult to describe the incident unless you saw it but Short and Tindall were in contention for the ball and Tindall had gone in low, as is his style. Finding himself wedged under Short, Tindall stood up and in so doing threw Short bodily into the air. It was an action which seemed to serve no useful purpose in the match and earned Tindall his second yellow card in four matches. It was whilst Great Britain were down to ten men that Canada’s Ken Pereira scored in open play mid-way through the second half, with a ball that was struck through a crowded ‘D’ from the edge of the circle.
Not that Tindall was the only sinner on the pitch. On two occasions GB players were struck in the face by unnecessarily high sticks. Canada’s Sukhwinder Singh earned himself a yellow card when he caught Glenn Kirkham in the face. Singh was joined in the sin bin minutes later by Matt Daly for the use of an elbow. Pereira, a massively talented player for the Canadians, was lucky not to be keeping Tindall company after his stick caught Jon Bleby in the face and caused him to leave the pitch for attention.
Ironically, it was Tindall who had one of a handful of scoring opportunities against the Canadians, with a shot in the second half that was well saved by Michael Mahood in the Canadian goal. Later he was to have a second opportunity when, following a long run, he had a shot saved by the ‘keeper at close range. But overall it was a poor performance by Great Britain, who were possibly still smarting after the 1-0 defeat at the hands of Canada in the recent Setanta Trophy in Dublin. Some of GB’s old ills, such as trying to attacked pack defences head on, were still apparent. As the seconds ticked by, it looked as if the Canadians were going to record a second victory. But it was Matt Daly who came to Great Britain’s rescue. Picking up on a ball injected into the D, he slipped the ball between Mahood’s legs and into the goal.
GB might just have snatched the win in the last minute, as the women had done on Saturday against Japan. Two late penalty corners, the last in overtime, left the score at a disappointing 1-1.
Looking at James Tindall’s profile in the Great Britain Hockey media pack, I see that his favourite film is “Too Fast Too Furious.” There is more than a hint of irony in that choice. However, the current situation in the table is that after today’s round of matches Great Britain will remain third irrespective of the other results. Whilst a chance at a semi final place is theoretically possible, the reality is somewhat more daunting. Australia and the Netherlands, who lead the table and are only separated on goal difference, play each other this evening. Great Britain’s next opponents are Australia, when they play their final Pool B match on Tuesday.
Our picture shows Canada's Ken Pereira (in white) and James Tindall, during the recent Great Britain v Canada Match in Dublin.
A report on all today's matches will appear on this blog later.
