One of the intriguing things about the EuroHockey Nations Challenge here in Sheffield is that the quality of all the visiting teams is virtually unknown to the pundits, and I count myself as one of them. So what were we expecting from the Swedes? If we were counting on them being a walkover we would have been sadly mistaken. This afternoon we saw a match where they showed considerable individual skill and not a little tactical prowess. The fact that England went into the second half one up was more a matter of some fine goalkeeping by Nick Brothers and an element of good luck. England went into the lead from a penalty corner after fifteen minutes of play courtesy of James Southgate. England raised their tally to two in the second half when Adam Dixon converted a penalty stroke. But Sweden always looked threatening and two penalty corners resulted in the sides being on even terms. The final act in the drama finally took place with a goal from open play scored in the last seconds of the match, the scorer being Sweden’s Magnus Mattsson. Final score 3-2 to Sweden.
It would be wrong to say that England were outclassed. The two sides were very evenly balanced. However, some may blanch at England losing at the hands of Sweden, a virtually unknown hockey nation. Worse may be to come. Turkey played Croatia earlier today and both teams showed themselves to be competent indoor exponents. England play Croatia later today.
Our pictures show umpire Andy Mair taking control of a penalty corner and England goalkeeper Nick Brothers in action. More photographs will appear on our main web site (www.TalkHockeyRadio.co.uk) next week.
