Great Britain put four past Argentina

A double for Great Britain Captain Barry Middleton
and a goal each for Dan Fox and Richard Smith ensured that Great
Britain men got their London 2012 Olympics campaign off to a great
start with a 4-1 victory over Argentina at the Riverbank Arena
tonight.
Speaking after the match, Great Britain Captain
Barry Middleton was very grateful to have the home support. “It
(the crowd) makes such a difference to us. We’re not used to this
in the usual hockey we play in during the year.  To have a
crowd like this making so much noise just gives everyone a lift.
The hard thing at times is trying to control that energy and not
get too carried away. We got a perfect balance today. We used the
energy of the crowd.” He then added his views on the team
performance and goal scoring, saying, “This team shares the goals
around a lot. You can go to some tournaments and get on a roll and
end up with five or six or not. You play the same tournament; you
just miss a few chances. I think that’s what we’ve shown today. A
lot of the guys have had chances and we’re a team that will share
them around. Another day it’ll be someone else’s job.”
Great Britain’s players thought they had opened the
scoring in the 5th minute when Reading midfielder Nick Catlin’s
shot was smartly saved by Juan Manuel Vivaldi in the Argentine
goal. The rebound fell to Surbiton’s Matt Daly, whose first time
shot was dispatched into the back of the net. Unfortunately for the
home side, the video umpire adjudged the ball to have hit Daly’s
body before the strike, resulting in the Argentina appeal being
upheld and the goal chalked off.
Despite this early disappointment, Great Britain
continued to increase the pressure on their South American
opponents and their efforts were rewarded in the 22nd minute with a
penalty corner. With regular set-play receiver Ashley Jackson off
the pitch, Loughborough Students’ Richard Smith collected the
injection at theedge of the circle, but saw his drag-flick palmed
away by Vivaldi.  The ball fell to Middleton, who with expert
precision lashed the ball past the despairing ‘keeper for the home
nation to take a 1-0 lead into the break.
With a slender one goal advantage, Great Britain
soaked up some strong Argentinian pressure in the opening period of
the second half before doubling their lead in the 42nd minute.
Surbiton’s Rob Moore slalomed through the Argentine midfield,
eventually finding East Grinstead playmaker Jackson with a clever
pass. The 24 year-old picked out club team-mate Middleton on the
right hand side of the shooting circle, where he dragged the ball
onto his left hand side and delivered a reverse stick drive
straight through Vivaldi’s legs to claim his second goal of the
game.
With the score now at 2-0, Great Britain were
beginning to turn the screw and a third goal for the home side in
the 49th minute involved the influential Jackson once again. His
swift counter-attack and pass finally led to Hampstead &
Westminster’s Dan Fox staring down Vivaldi in the centre of the
circle. The defender kept his composure and fired the ball low into
the corner of the net to register his first international goal and
make the score 3-0.
Not to be out-done by their female counterparts,
the Great Britain men’s team grabbed a fourth goal in the 53rd
minute when an Argentine infringement was punished with a penalty
corner. Smith again found himself on the end of the set-play and
the 24 year-old delivered a clinical finish past Vivaldi to put
Great Britain out of sight at 4-0.
An otherwise excellent evening for the home side
was partly spoiled by Pedro Ibarra’s consolation goal from a
penalty corner in the 55th minute. Nevertheless, Great Britain come
away from the first game having laid down a marker to the rest of
their pool rivals. Their next match at the Riverside Arena will be
on Wednesday 1 August, when they play South Africa at 16.00.
Speaking after the game Dan Fox was delighted with
his first international goal, “Absolutely brilliant, no better time
to score I guess. We had a lot of shots on target and quite a few
balls flashing across goal, so if you put those away in
international hockey you win by three or four goals every game.
That’s where we need to improve in the next match (against South
Africa).”
Meanwhile, Great Britain women continue their quest
for an Olympic medal on home soil when they play Korea at 16.00
tomorrow in their second Pool A match.

A double for Great Britain Captain Barry Middleton and a
goal each for Dan Fox and Richard Smith ensured that Great Britain
men got their London 2012 Olympics campaign off to a great start
with a 4-1 victory over Argentina at the Riverbank Arena
tonight.

Speaking after the match, Great Britain Captain Barry Middleton
was very grateful to have the home support,

“It (the crowd) makes such a difference to us. We’re not used to
this in the usual hockey we play in during the year.  To have
a crowd like this making so much noise just gives everyone a lift.
The hard thing at times is trying to control that energy and not
get too carried away. We got a perfect balance today. We used the
energy of the crowd.”

He then added his views on the team performance and goal
scoring, saying,

“This team shares the goals around a lot. You can go to some
tournaments and get on a roll and end up with five or six or not.
You play the same tournament; you just miss a few chances. I think
that’s what we’ve shown today. A lot of the guys have had chances
and we’re a team that will share them around. Another day it’ll be
someone else’s job.”

Great Britain’s players thought they had opened the scoring in
the 5th minute when Reading midfielder Nick Catlin’s shot was
smartly saved by Juan Manuel Vivaldi in the Argentine goal. The
rebound fell to Surbiton’s Matt Daly, whose first time shot was
dispatched into the back of the net. Unfortunately for the home
side, the video umpire adjudged the ball to have hit Daly’s body
before the strike, resulting in the Argentina appeal being upheld
and the goal chalked off.

Despite this early disappointment, Great Britain continued to
increase the pressure on their South American opponents and their
efforts were rewarded in the 22nd minute with a penalty corner.
With regular set-play receiver Ashley Jackson off the pitch,
Loughborough Students’ Richard Smith collected the injection at
theedge of the circle, but saw his drag-flick palmed away by
Vivaldi.  The ball fell to Middleton, who with expert
precision lashed the ball past the despairing ‘keeper for the home
nation to take a 1-0 lead into the break.

With a slender one goal advantage, Great Britain soaked up some
strong Argentinian pressure in the opening period of the second
half before doubling their lead in the 42nd minute. Surbiton’s Rob
Moore slalomed through the Argentine midfield, eventually finding
East Grinstead playmaker Jackson with a clever pass. The 24
year-old picked out club team-mate Middleton on the right hand side
of the shooting circle, where he dragged the ball onto his left
hand side and delivered a reverse stick drive straight through
Vivaldi’s legs to claim his second goal of the game.

With the score now at 2-0, Great Britain were beginning to turn
the screw and a third goal for the home side in the 49th minute
involved the influential Jackson once again. His swift
counter-attack and pass finally led to Hampstead &
Westminster’s Dan Fox staring down Vivaldi in the centre of the
circle. The defender kept his composure and fired the ball low into
the corner of the net to register his first international goal and
make the score 3-0.

Not to be out-done by their female counterparts, the Great
Britain men’s team grabbed a fourth goal in the 53rd minute when an
Argentine infringement was punished with a penalty corner. Smith
again found himself on the end of the set-play and the 24 year-old
delivered a clinical finish past Vivaldi to put Great Britain out
of sight at 4-0.

An otherwise excellent evening for the home side was partly
spoiled by Pedro Ibarra’s consolation goal from a penalty corner in
the 55th minute. Nevertheless, Great Britain come away from the
first game having laid down a marker to the rest of their pool
rivals. Their next match at the Riverside Arena will be on
Wednesday 1 August, when they play South Africa at 16.00.

Speaking after the game Dan Fox was delighted with his first
international goal,

“Absolutely brilliant, no better time to score I guess. We had a
lot of shots on target and quite a few balls flashing across goal,
so if you put those away in international hockey you win by three
or four goals every game. That’s where we need to improve in the
next match (against South Africa).”

Meanwhile, Great Britain women continue their quest for an
Olympic medal on home soil when they play Korea at 16.00 tomorrow
in their second Pool A match.

 

 

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