Today's hockey – in fact this
weekend's hockey – is slightly unusual, inasmuch as several
European nations are fielding more than one national side.
Let's look at the World League Finals
in New Delhi first. Despite all the pre-tournament doubts (and to be
frank, the men have been put in the shade by the exploits of
England's women in the last few months), there is little doubt that
England's performance up until today has been outstanding. With a
100% record from Day One, today's semi final match against New
Zealand was a bit of a let-down. After all, England had beaten them
only a few days earlier in the Pool.
We are not going to give a blow-by-blow
account of the match. Enough to say that after suffering an early
set-back, England took a 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Harry Martin
and Mark Gleghorne. Unfortunately, New Zealand responded in kind to
re-take the lead, and it was left to a Ashley Jackson penalty stroke
to save the match for England.
At 3-3 the issue had to be decided on a
shoot out. It took all of 20 attempts, 10 by each side, before Phil
Burrows beat England's George Pinner to slot home the winning goal.
The final shoot-out score 6-7 to New Zealand.
Surprisingly, in view of their recent
form, England's opposition for the bronze medals will be Australia,
who were beaten 4-3 by The Netherlands in the other semi final.
In common with The Netherlands and
Germany, England had another team in action, this one in the European
Indoor Championships in Vienna. England has played both The
Netherlands and Russia today, and are in third place behind the
Germans and The Dutch. Unfortunately, with one game left to play
(against the Germans) England look destined to be playing in the
relegation pool. This is a pity, because England have played very
well, and have given today's opposition a run for their money.
In their opening match against the
Dutch, England opened the scoring as early as the third minute, with
a goal from Sam Ward. Darren Cheesman scored a second for England,
but the Dutch clawed their way back into the match and took a 3-2
lead which they held for only four minutes before Ben Arnold scored
an equaliser.
Two more goals from The Dutch gave them
a 5-3 lead, but Ward managed to close the difference, only to see his
opponents score less than a minute later. Then Simon Egerton scored
for England, for the same thing to happen.bb
The final say in the match came from
David Beckett who scored as the seconds were running out.
Final score 7-6 to the Dutch, but an
England team beaten but not humbled.
The second pool match of the day was
between England and Russia, and one sensed that this was the match
that England coach Andy Halliday feared most. Unlike the other
members of Pool A, Russia was able to send a full strength side.
Halliday's fears seemed to be founded
as his side fell 3-0 behind in the first half. But showing huge
determination, and not a little character, goals from Chris Griffiths
and David Beckett put England back into the match. And then a Russian
player did something he may now regret. Arrogantly taunting the
English side by performing a spin around the ball, his behaviour
resulted in even greater determination on the part of the England
side. The debt was collected in the last minute when England was
awarded a penalty corner. Sam Ward, who earlier in the match had
snatched a ball off the line defending a penalty corner whilst the
goalkeeper was on the bench, slotted it home to give England a 3-3
draw.
A draw is not a win, of course, but it
was a very creditable performance. Unfortunately the way we approach
indoor hockey in England works in a way that would stop Halliday in
building this into a truly world-class team. Shame really.
IMAGES FROM ENGLAND'S GAMES IN VIENNA
CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.HOCKEYIMAGES.CO.UK.
