Great Britain women win Olympic Test Event

6th May 2012

Home » News » Great Britain women win Olympic Test Event

Two goals from defender Crista Cullen helped Great
Britain to a 2-0 victory over Argentina in the final of the Visa
International Invitational Hockey Tournament – the Olympic Test
Event in London.

A fourth consecutive clean sheet means that Great
Britain have not lost a goal in 280 minutes of hockey at the
Riverbank Arena on Olympic Park.

The victory was overshadowed by injuries sustained
by Cullen and forward Alex Danson in the second half.

After a goalless first half Leicester’s Cullen got
the second half off to the best possible start as she fired home a
low penalty corner, clocking up a milestone 50th international goal
in the process. And things got even better for GB five
minutes later when Cullen doubled her tally, again from a penalty
corner, propelled high into the net. In the process of
scoring though, the 26 year old Beijing Olympian was caught by the
onrushing Argentinean defender and left the field with a sprained
right ankle.

Cullen was later joined on the bench for the
remainder for the match by Reading’s Alex Danson, who was hurt in a
collision with an Argentina defender in the 53rd minute.
Danson left the field clutching her left shoulder although
the exact nature of her injury is unknown.

Speaking afterwards, Head Coach Danny Kerry said,
“Argentina were defensive today. They invite the opposition
to come to them with the hope of achieving a breakaway. The
challenge is to try and unpick that and we were able to unpick them
in the second half.”

Talking about the injuries to Cullen and Danson,
Kerry added, “We still don’t know how serious Alex’s injury is but
Crista should be ok.”

In a rematch of Saturday’s fixture Great Britain
met world number two side and World Champions Argentina in the
final of the Olympic Test Event. Three early Argentina
penalty corners were well defended by the British back line before
GB won a penalty corner of their own. Captain Kate Walsh’s
effort was cleared from the goal line before moments later
Loughborough’s Laura Unsworth’s effort flew over the
crossbar.

University of Birmingham’s Susie Gilbert then came
close to breaking the deadlock with a superb diving deflection, the
quality of which was matched only by the low reflex save of
Argentina goalkeeper Laura Del Colle.

That was as close as either side came to a goal but
just three minutes into the second half Crista Cullen had the crowd
on its feet with a well executed low penalty corner flick.

Argentina’s response won them two penalty corners
of their own, the second of which Great Britain referred to the
video umpire who ruled in favour of the original decision. GB
survived the corners and following good work by Danson upfield the
hosts were awarded another penalty corner, which Cullen flicked
high into the net. As her teammates turned to celebrate,
Cullen was lying prone on the iconic blue turf having been hit by
the running defender. It was to be Cullen’s last involvement
in the match as she was helped from the pitch with a sprained
ankle.

Mariela Scarone’s yellow card for a series of fouls
handed Great Britain a numerical advantage during which time
Reading’s Laura Bartlett threatened to add a third. The
former Glasgow Western midfielder broke clear of the defence and
released a shot which Del Colle kicked clear.

Then followed a moment of concern for the British
bench as Alex Danson collided with an opponent, injuring her left
shoulder in the process. Like Cullen, Danson left the field of play
for treatment and did not play any further part in the match.

Having lost two players, Great Britain did well to
thwart the threat of Argentina as the match wore on with defensive
pairing of Kate Walsh and Emily Maguire making telling tackles and
goalkeeper Beth Storry out quickly to smother at the feet of
Martina Cavallero. Late on, Helen Richardson did well to hit
the target from a narrow angle on her reverse but Del Colle was up
to the task.

Great Britain’s athletes will now turn their
attention toward Olympic squad selection on Friday 18 May before
preparing for the Investec London Cup in Chiswick from 5-10 June.
Tickets for the six team tournament, which features GB, the
Netherlands, Germany, Australia, South Africa and Ireland, are
still available from
www.greatbritainhockey.co.uk/investeclondoncup.

Goalkeeper Beth Storry, who did not concede a
single goal in the tournament, said, “We played really well.
The second half was good. We played out style of hockey
and it was a positive way to finish the tournament. It’s
great to keep a clean sheet in all four games; it’s great for us
defensively.”

She added, “Winning in front of the home crowd
feels really great. The crowds were really amazing, cheering
all the time, which lifted our spirits. It’s a good sign for
the Games.”

In the day’s early match, Korea beat China 3-2 to
finish third in the Visa International Invitational Hockey
Tournament.

Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament
Fixtures & Results

Wednesday 2 May 2012

11:00 Argentina v China: 3-0

13:15 Great Britain v Korea: 1-0

Thursday 3 May 2012

11:00 Argentina v Korea: 0-0

13:15 China v Great Britain: 0-3

Saturday 5 May 2012

09:30 China v Korea 1-2

11:45 Great Britain v Argentina 2-0

Sunday 6 May 2012

09:30 Bronze medal match – Korea v China
3-2

12:15 Final – Great Britain v Argentina
2-0

Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament
Standings

1. Great Britain (winners)

2. Argentina

3. Korea

4. China

GREAT BRITAIN TEAM v ARGENTINA

Started

Beth Storry (Reading) [Goalkeeper]

Crista Cullen (Leicester) [Defender]

Emily Maguire (Reading) [Defender]

Laura Unsworth (Loughborough Students)
[Defender]

Kate Walsh (Reading) [Defender]

Laura Bartlett (Reading) [Midfielder]

Alex Danson (Reading) [Forward]

Susie Gilbert (University of Birmingham)
[Midfielder]

Georgie Twigg (Clifton) [Midfielder/Forward]

Sarah Thomas (No Club) [Forward]

Nicola White (Slough) [Forward]

Used Substitutes

Anne Panter (Leicester) [Defender]

Natalie Seymour (EuroCanterbury) [Defender]

Hannah Macleod (Leicester) [Midfielder]

Helen Richardson (Reading) [Midfielder]

Chloe Rogers (Leicester) [Midfielder]

Did Not Play

Ashleigh Ball (Slough) [Midfielder]

Rebecca Herbert (Leicester) [Forward]

Two goals from defender Crista Cullen helped Great
Britain to a 2-0 victory over Argentina in the final of the Visa
International Invitational Hockey Tournament – the Olympic Test
Event in London.

A fourth consecutive clean sheet means that Great Britain have
not lost a goal in 280 minutes of hockey at the Riverbank Arena on
Olympic Park.

The victory was overshadowed by injuries sustained by Cullen and
forward Alex Danson in the second half.

And things got even better for GB five minutes later when Cullen
doubled her tally, again from a penalty corner, propelled high into
the net. In the process of scoring though, the 26 year old
Beijing Olympian was caught by the onrushing Argentinean defender
and left the field with a sprained right ankle.

Cullen was later joined on the bench for the remainder for the
match by Reading’s Alex Danson, who was hurt in a collision with an
Argentina defender in the 53rd minute. Danson left the field
clutching her left shoulder although the exact nature of her injury
is unknown.

Speaking afterwards, Head Coach Danny Kerry said,

“Argentina were defensive today. They invite the
opposition to come to them with the hope of achieving a breakaway.
The challenge is to try and unpick that and we were able to
unpick them in the second half.”

Talking about the injuries to Cullen and Danson, Kerry added,
“We still don’t know how serious Alex’s injury is but Crista should
be ok.”

In a rematch of Saturday’s fixture Great Britain met world
number two side and World Champions Argentina in the final of the
Olympic Test Event. Three early Argentina penalty corners
were well defended by the British back line before GB won a penalty
corner of their own. Captain Kate Walsh’s effort was cleared
from the goal line before moments later Loughborough’s Laura
Unsworth’s effort flew over the crossbar.

University of Birmingham’s Susie Gilbert then came close to
breaking the deadlock with a superb diving deflection, the quality
of which was matched only by the low reflex save of Argentina
goalkeeper Laura Del Colle.

That was as close as either side came to a goal but just three
minutes into the second half Crista Cullen had the crowd on its
feet with a well executed low penalty corner flick.

As her teammates turned to celebrate, Cullen was lying prone on
the iconic blue turf having been hit by the running defender.
It was to be Cullen’s last involvement in the match as she
was helped from the pitch with a sprained ankle.

Mariela Scarone’s yellow card for a series of fouls handed Great
Britain a numerical advantage during which time Reading’s Laura
Bartlett threatened to add a third. The former Glasgow Western
midfielder broke clear of the defence and released a shot which Del
Colle kicked clear.

Then followed a moment of concern for the British bench as Alex
Danson collided with an opponent, injuring her left shoulder in the
process. Like Cullen, Danson left the field of play for treatment
and did not play any further part in the match.

Having lost two players, Great Britain did well to thwart the
threat of Argentina as the match wore on with defensive pairing of
Kate Walsh and Emily Maguire making telling tackles and goalkeeper
Beth Storry out quickly to smother at the feet of Martina
Cavallero. Late on, Helen Richardson did well to hit the
target from a narrow angle on her reverse but Del Colle was up to
the task.

Goalkeeper Beth Storry, who did not concede a single goal in the
tournament, said, “We played really well. The second half was
good. We played out style of hockey and it was a positive way
to finish the tournament. It’s great to keep a clean sheet in
all four games; it’s great for us defensively.”

She added, “Winning in front of the home crowd feels really
great. The crowds were really amazing, cheering all the time,
which lifted our spirits. It’s a good sign for the
Games.”

In the day’s early match, Korea beat China 3-2 to finish third
in the Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament.

Great Britain’s athletes will now turn their attention toward
Olympic squad selection on Friday 18 May before preparing for the
Investec London Cup in Chiswick from 5-10 June.

Tickets for the six team tournament, which features GB, the
Netherlands, Germany, Australia, South Africa and Ireland, are
still available from
www.greatbritainhockey.co.uk/investeclondoncup.