Bronze for Great Britain men following win over India

6th May 2012

Home » News » Bronze for Great Britain men following win over India

It was a repeat of Thursday night’s clash between
Great Britain and India in the third versus fourth place play-off
at the Riverbank Arena on the final day of the Visa International
Invitational Hockey Tournament. The teams came out to a
rapturous applause from the 10,000 strong crowd that had come to
cheer on the sides and enjoy an afternoon of hockey featuring some
of the best teams in the world.

In a game that saw Beeston’s Alastair Wilson make
his 50th appearance in a Great Britain shirt the men in red managed
to secure third place in the tournament with a 2-1 victory over
India. Both goals in the first half came from penalty
corners; the first scored by VR Raghunath for India and the second
by Surbiton’s James Tindall seconds before half time. The
second half saw good chances for both sides, but Rob Moore was the
only one to capitalise, scoring his second goal of the
tournament.

Speaking after the game Great Britain Head Coach
Jason Lee said, “It’s going to be an exciting place to be in the
summer. I hope the crowd keep up their support and backing
for the team. On our part I hope we can bring much more
energy and excitement on the pitch than we brought today.
This has been our fourth game in five days and I think that’s
why we struggled with the intensity as India did as well. At the
Olympics, our fourth game will be after seven days so we’ll have
had two more rest days then and I think that will make it a lot
easier for us to play with a higher intensity.”

Great Britain got off to a strong start winning
their first penalty corner of the game after just three minutes.
Tindall created space for himself in the circle and won the
corner for his side which Loughborough Students’ Richard Smith
stepped up to strike. His effort was driven low and to the
left of Bharat Kumar Chetri in India’s goal but the cheering crowd
said it all as the ball rebounded back off the right hand post and
India cleared.

Great Britain showed some patient build up play and
won another penalty corner in the 12th minute thanks to some great
work from East Grinstead’s Ashley Jackson and Reading’s Jonty
Clarke; this time Smith’s effort was stopped by the defender.

India looked dangerous on the break and Great
Britain were caught out on several occasions; Hampstead and
Westminster’s Dan Fox and Beeston’s Adam Dixon both made vital
tackles to help keep the score line even.

In the 23rd minute India won a penalty corner when
a ball in the circle came off Smith’s foot. The ball came out
to VR Raghunath who fired a shot low and to the left past Fair in
goal to make it 1-0.

Following India’s goal Great Britain pressed
forward. East Grinstead’s trio of Glenn Kirkham, Mark Pearn and
Jackson all forced saves from India’s captain Chetri in goal. But
it was Tindall who came closest with a reverse stick shot after
some good build up play down the right hand side from Old
Loughtonian’s Harry Martin and Jackson.

Just as it looked like India would take a goal
advantage into the half time break Great Britain’s persistence was
rewarded when they won a penalty corner in the final minute.
The ball fell to Tindall whose strike cut through the Indian
defence to find the back board and pull a vital goal back before
the break.

Great Britain started the second half in a similar
fashion to the first. Some good build up work down the left
hand side saw an attempt from Reading’s Nick Catlin on the reverse
which went wide of the left post. Moments later Surbiton’s Rob
Moore found himself space at the top of the circle to fire a shot,
but it went high over the crossbar.

In total Great Britain had 18 attacking circle
penetrations during the game compared to nine for India, however
when India did attack they consistently looked a threat. With
17 minutes to go they won a penalty corner after a mistake by
Wilson, but Sandeep Singh’s attempt was saved by Fair and the
danger cleared.

In the 52nd minute Ashley Jackson passed a
searching cross into the circle, which was initially saved by
Chetri. The rebound fell to Iain Mackay who ran around his defender
to deliver a pass across goal to Rob Moore, who swept the ball home
to make it 2-1 and to score his second goal against India in this
tournament.

The support from the 10,000 strong crowd was
fantastic throughout and with three minutes to go Great Britain
could have killed the game off. Another great piece of play
from Jackson down the left wing picked out Catlin in the circle for
a one on one with the goalkeeper, but Chetri got down well to save.
The game finished 2-1 and gave Great Britain a third place
finish.

Speaking after the game Great Britain captain Glenn
Kirkham said, “The last two games, with the size of the crowd, it
has been fantastic. You just don’t get that with hockey matches in
the UK or Europe in general. We talk a lot about home crowds
giving you pressure and whether you take it in the right way or
not. I think this tournament we’ve definitely responded to
it. Overall it’s been fantastic and if that’s anything like what
it’ll be like in the summer it can only serve to boost our
performances.”

Lee added his thoughts on the tournament overall,
“This is a great tournament because of the differences in the
teams. Across the tournament, we’re the third ranked team
here so we should have come third, all things being equal. We
got a draw against Australia and could’ve nicked it and although
the result was perhaps a bit unfair I thought we were close with
Germany and we had two victories against India who have been an up
and coming team over the last few years.”

The Great Britain men’s squad will now move into
the preparation phase for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup which runs from
24 May – 3 June 2012.

Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament
Standings

1. Germany/Australia

2. Germany/Australia

3. Great Britain

4. India

Great Britain men’s Squad v India

Name (Club) Position

Started

James Fair (Cannock) Goalkeeper

Iain Lewers (East Grinstead) Defender

Richard Smith (Loughborough Students)
Defender

Dan Fox (Hampstead and Westminster) Defender

Harry Martin (Old Loughtonians) Midfielder

Ashley Jackson (East Grinstead) Midfielder

Glenn Kirkham (East Grinstead) Midfielder

Iain Mackay (Reading) Midfielder

Nick Catlin (Reading) Midfielder/Forward

Rob Moore (Surbiton) Midfielder/Forward

James Tindall (Surbiton) Forward

Substitutes Used

Ali Wilson (Beeston) Defender

Adam Dixon (Beeston) Defender/Midfielder

Jonty Clarke (Reading) Forward

Mark Pearn (East Grinstead) Forward

Richard Alexander (Surbiton)
Midfielder/Forward

Did Not Play

Ben Hawes (Wimbledon) Defender/Midfielder

Simon Mantell (Reading) Forward

The teams came out to a rapturous applause from the 10,000
strong crowd that had come to cheer on the sides and enjoy an
afternoon of hockey featuring some of the best teams in the
world.

In a game that saw Beeston’s Alastair Wilson make his 50th
appearance in a Great Britain shirt the men in red managed to
secure third place in the tournament with a 2-1 victory over India.
Both goals in the first half came from penalty corners; the
first scored by VR Raghunath for India and the second by Surbiton’s
James Tindall seconds before half time. The second half saw
good chances for both sides, but Rob Moore was the only one to
capitalise, scoring his second goal of the tournament.

Speaking after the game Great Britain Head Coach Jason Lee said,
“It’s going to be an exciting place to be in the summer. I
hope the crowd keep up their support and backing for the team.
On our part I hope we can bring much more energy and
excitement on the pitch than we brought today. This has been
our fourth game in five days and I think that’s why we struggled
with the intensity as India did as well. At the Olympics, our
fourth game will be after seven days so we’ll have had two more
rest days then and I think that will make it a lot easier for us to
play with a higher intensity.”

Great Britain got off to a strong start winning their first
penalty corner of the game after just three minutes. Tindall
created space for himself in the circle and won the corner for his
side which Loughborough Students’ Richard Smith stepped up to
strike. His effort was driven low and to the left of Bharat
Kumar Chetri in India’s goal but the cheering crowd said it all as
the ball rebounded back off the right hand post and India
cleared.

Great Britain showed some patient build up play and won another
penalty corner in the 12th minute thanks to some great work from
East Grinstead’s Ashley Jackson and Reading’s Jonty Clarke; this
time Smith’s effort was stopped by the defender.

India looked dangerous on the break and Great Britain were
caught out on several occasions; Hampstead and Westminster’s Dan
Fox and Beeston’s Adam Dixon both made vital tackles to help keep
the score line even.

In the 23rd minute India won a penalty corner when a ball in the
circle came off Smith’s foot. The ball came out to VR
Raghunath who fired a shot low and to the left past Fair in goal to
make it 1-0.

Following India’s goal Great Britain pressed forward. East
Grinstead’s trio of Glenn Kirkham, Mark Pearn and Jackson all
forced saves from India’s captain Chetri in goal. But it was
Tindall who came closest with a reverse stick shot after some good
build up play down the right hand side from Old Loughtonian’s Harry
Martin and Jackson.

Just as it looked like India would take a goal advantage into
the half time break Great Britain’s persistence was rewarded when
they won a penalty corner in the final minute. The ball fell
to Tindall whose strike cut through the Indian defence to find the
back board and pull a vital goal back before the break.

Great Britain started the second half in a similar fashion to
the first. Some good build up work down the left hand side
saw an attempt from Reading’s Nick Catlin on the reverse which went
wide of the left post. Moments later Surbiton’s Rob Moore found
himself space at the top of the circle to fire a shot, but it went
high over the crossbar.

In total Great Britain had 18 attacking circle penetrations
during the game compared to nine for India, however when India did
attack they consistently looked a threat. With 17 minutes to
go they won a penalty corner after a mistake by Wilson, but Sandeep
Singh’s attempt was saved by Fair and the danger cleared.

In the 52nd minute Ashley Jackson passed a searching cross into
the circle, which was initially saved by Chetri. The rebound fell
to Iain Mackay who ran around his defender to deliver a pass across
goal to Rob Moore, who swept the ball home to make it 2-1 and to
score his second goal against India in this tournament.

The support from the 10,000 strong crowd was fantastic
throughout and with three minutes to go Great Britain could have
killed the game off. Another great piece of play from Jackson
down the left wing picked out Catlin in the circle for a one on one
with the goalkeeper, but Chetri got down well to save. The
game finished 2-1 and gave Great Britain a third place finish.

Speaking after the game Great Britain captain Glenn Kirkham
said, “The last two games, with the size of the crowd, it has been
fantastic. You just don’t get that with hockey matches in the UK or
Europe in general. We talk a lot about home crowds giving you
pressure and whether you take it in the right way or not. I
think this tournament we’ve definitely responded to it. Overall
it’s been fantastic and if that’s anything like what it’ll be like
in the summer it can only serve to boost our performances.”

Lee added his thoughts on the tournament overall, “This is a
great tournament because of the differences in the teams.
Across the tournament, we’re the third ranked team here so we
should have come third, all things being equal. We got a draw
against Australia and could’ve nicked it and although the result
was perhaps a bit unfair I thought we were close with Germany and
we had two victories against India who have been an up and coming
team over the last few years.”

The Great Britain men’s squad will now move into the preparation
phase for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup which runs from 24 May – 3
June 2012.