News for 07 March 2017
All the news for Tuesday 7 March 2017
England wins war of attrition against SA
In a match that can be best described as war of attrition between South Africa and England, the latter won 1-0.
It was the second match between these two teams in the second Summer Series held in Cape Town. All matches are played at the Hartleyvale stadium. Germany is also involved in the series.
After 30 minutes of play there was still no goal, but unlike in previous encounters during the Summer Series it was South Africa creating the chances and looking like the more dangerous team on the pitch.
England broke the deadlock in the third quarter when Edward Horler scored. England started the second half like a team that found a next gear.
The local team created chances and looked more dangerous throughout the match and while they will be happy with the fact that they only conceded one goal in this match, the disappointment was obvious. This is a very young South African team that is showing some great promise. It was a good match on the attack and on defence.
Ryan Crowe made a welcome comeback to the team after recovering from an injury that kept him on the sideline until now.
South Africa’s next and last game is on Thursday at 18:00.
The rest of the series’ schedule: Wednesday, 8 March @ 18:00 England v Germany; Thursday, 9 March @ 18:00 – South Africa v Germany.
SA Hockey Association media release
Scott makes it eleven debutants for England men
England's debutants
England's men were defeated 3-0 by Germany on Saturday as an eleventh player made his debut for his country in the space of three days.
Peter Scott pulled on an England shirt in today's loss, joining compatriots Brendan Creed, Harry Gibson, Liam Sanford, Ed Horler, David Goodfield, James Turner, Jonty Griffiths, James Albery, Liam Ansell and James Gall, who made their debuts against South Africa a couple of days ago [pictured above].
Germany's goals came all came from penalty corners, with efforts from Grambusch and Windfeder (2) sealing the win.
Coach Bobby Crutchley said, "I was pleased with aspects of the way we played, but Germany were able to demonstrate the relative experience of their group in the way they converted their opportunities.
"On saying that, our group will learn a great deal from games of this intensity."
Despite the scoreline England's heads never dropped, and for long periods Crutchley's side matched the intensity of the more experienced German side, who finished fourth at last summer's Olympics in Rio.
Ian Sloan was handed the captain's armband, with George Pinner having taken the honour in the first game against South Africa.
Team: Gibson (GK), Creed, Sanford, Hoare, Albery, Sloan, Weir, Gall, Ward, C Griffiths, Goodfield
Subs used: Pinner, J Griffiths, Willars, Turner, Carson, Horler, Scott
England Hockey Board Media release
India triumph over Belarus 2-1 in fourth Test match
BHOPAL: The Indian eves defeated a spirited Belarus side 2-1 to register their fourth consecutive victory in the five-match Test series here on Monday.
Led by captain Rani, the Indian women were quick to start off the blocks with Renuka Yadav scoring a field goal in the 6th minute of the match.
The first quarter turned out to be an eventful one for the Indians as Gurjit Kaur successfully converted a Penalty Corner in the 12th minute to give the team a 2-0 lead.
The visitors responded in the second quarter as Nastassia Syrayezhka scored a field goal in the 21st minute to bridge the deficit.
However, the Indian defence held strong thereafter, denying Belarus any opportunity to score in the two goal-less quarters after half time.
India eventually posted a 2-1 victory.
The Times of India
Players told to improve penalty corner conversion rate
by S. Ramaguru
KUALA LUMPUR: Get it right with the penalty corners.
Not happy with the conversion rate, Malaysia coach Stephen van Huizen put his charges through a full training session just working on penalty corners at the Maulana Bhansani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka yesterday.
Out of 18 penalty corners won in the two Group A matches at the World Hockey League Round Two, Malaysia only managed to score three.
They had six against hosts Bangladesh but only scored one in the 3-0 win on Saturday.
Things got worse on Sunday. They had 12, but only netted two in the 6-1 win over Oman.
Team manager Mohamed Nasihin Nubli said that the pitch was heavy and not conducive for a smooth execution.
“The drag flicks are also not working. The coach is very concerned, so we conducted a full training session on penalty corners this morning. It was a good session and I hope the players will learn from it,” said Nasihin in a telephone interview from Dhaka.
Fortunately, Malaysia are scoring plenty of field goals – six in two matches.
“If we had taken our penalty corner chances well in both the matches, we could have won by a bigger margin. But our objective here is to improve on our playing structure and to get full points. It’s not about how many goals we score,” said the former international goalkeeper.
Youngster Nik Aiman Nik Rozemi is Malaysia’s leading marksman with three goals. The other scorers are Mohamed Razie Rahim (2), Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin (2), Mohamed Marhan Mohamed Jalil (1) and Shahril Saabah (1).
Malaysia, the world No. 13, play winless Fiji today. It’s Malaysia’s first ever meeting against the world No. 44.
Malaysia should have no problems emerging Group A winners to set up a quarter-final clash with world No. 41 Sri Lanka, who are expected to finish bottom of Group B.
“All our players are injury free and we’re happy with their progress. We will give the fringe players more time on the pitch against Fiji.
“Our focus is on the quarter-finals and semi-finals. These are the two most important matches for us. We could be meeting China in the last four. This is going to be a tough match and we are preparing for it,” said Nasihin.
The Star of Malaysia
Fulton Announces 18 Man Irish Squad For World League 2 In Belfast
The 18 man Green Machine squad for World League 2 in Belfast has today been announced by head coach Craig Fulton. Ronan Gormley and Eugene Magee with nearly 500 caps between them will line out alongside exciting young talents such as Matthew Nelson and Sean Murray in a somewhat new look squad in Belfast.
Ireland sit in Group A alongside Austria, Italy and Ukraine; the Austrians look the main threat with several of their players having performed admirably at the Junior World Cup in December. Pool B see’s France, Poland, Scotland and Wales with the French looking the side to beat. 11 of their panel picked up a silver medal at the Junior World Cup in 2013 and appear to be coming of age at the right time.
Speaking about the squad and tournament Craig Fulton said “I am pleased to have selected our Irish senior men’s team, it is a mix of exciting youth and senior experience which has been the case for the last 4 months in our build up to playing World League 2 in Belfast. It’s been a while since Ireland hosted a men’s FIH tournament so we’re looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd. The Stormont venue is looking good and the pitch is playing fast, and we’re eager to start our campaign against Ukraine this weekend”.
Squad:
1.Jonathan Bell-Lisnagarvey-Defender
2.Matt Bell-Banbridge-Defender
3.Lee Cole-Monkstown-Defender
4. Paul Gleghorne-Lisnagarvey-Defender
5.Ronan Gormley-Krefeld-Defender
6.Conor Harte-Racing-Defender
7.Chris Cargo-H&W-Midfield
8.Jamie Wright-Banbridge-Midfield
9.Shane O’Donoghue-Glenanne-Midfield
10. Neal Glassey-Lisnagarvey-Midfield
11. Sean Murray-Lisnagarvey-Midfield
12.John Jermyn-C of I-Midfield
13.Eugene Magee-Banbridge-Forward
14. John McKee-Banbridge-Forward
15.Matthew Nelson-Lisnagarvey-Forward
16.Jeremy Duncan-UCD-Forward.
17.Jamie Carr-Three Rock-GK
18.David Harte-Kampong-GK
Irish Hockey Association media release
Over 35 EHL players bound for Belfast for World League 2
Eight Cardiff &Met players have been named in the Welsh side to play in the Hockey World League Round 2 in Stormont, Ireland which gets underway on Saturday afternoon.
Liam Brignull, Ben Carless, Owain Dolan-Gray, Jacob Draper, James Fortnam, Luke Hawker (pictured), Dan Kyriakides and James Kyriakides have all been named in the Welsh panel from the club who won the country’s first EHL game last October.
They are in good form having beaten France twice in the last week in Paris and Welsh coach Zak Jones says:“We have continued to build on the solid foundations we have established over the past twelve months and I am really pleased with where we are as a group.”
Hosts Ireland also named their panel this morning with the side drawing heavily on EHL talent. Lisnagarvey provide five of the players – Neal Glassey, Sean Murray, Jonathan Bell, Paul Glehorne and teenager Matthew Nelson – while Banbridge supply four: Matthew Bell, Eugene Magee, Jamie Wright and John McKee.
The side is captained by goalkeeper David Harte while Racing Club de Bruxelles’ defender Conor Harte is also in the squad.
Scotland feature Bromac Kelburne’s Lee Morton who played in the EHL ROUND1 last October. Poland draw heavily from WKS Grunwald Poznan with five call-ups along with Rafal Banaszak and Patryk Pawlak from AZS AWF Poznan.
France are another heavy on EHL players. They bring Saint Germain’s Guillaume Deront, Hugo and Tom Genestet, Francois Goyet and Blaise Rogeau along with Racing Club de France’s Corentin Saunier, Jean-Laurent Kieffer, Christophe Peters-Deutz and Simon Martin-Brisac.
Austria will look to HC Oranje-Rood’s Benjamin Stanzl while Italy have Club Egara’s Thomas Keenan among their number.
Euro Hockey League media release
Polo move six clear as Egara falter in Spain
Real Club de Polo extended their lead at the top of the Spanish Honor Division as chasers Club Egara fell to a 5-4 loss to RS Tenis.
For Polo, they were comfortable 4-0 winners over UD Taburiente with Manu Bordas putting them ahead in the seventh minute. Further goals from Pedro Ibarra and Lucas Vila put them 3-0 up in the third quarter before Alex Casasayas completed the win.
For Egara, they were stunned in Santander, falling 4-0 behind in the first half and Diego Arana’s goal made it 5-1 with 20 minutes to go. Late goals from Xavier Aguilar, Pau Quemada and Lluis Mercade reduced the gap to Egara 5-4 but they could not earn a result
Atlètic Terrassa jumped ahead of Egara thanks to a 2-1 win over FC Barcelona, Roc Oliva scoring the win with six minutes to go.
Junior FC moved into fourth place with a 2-1 success as CD Terrassa, coming from a goal behind to win the tie with Marc Perellon and Gaby Dabanch swinging the tie their way. They overtook Club de Campo who lost 2-1 to SPV Complutense in the Madrid derby.
Euro Hockey League media release
Truyens hails Racing performance to beat Leo
Royal Racing Club de Bruxelles scored an important 3-2 win over fifth-placed Royal Leopold to maintain their place in a very tight Belgian battle for top spot.Leo had taken the lead when Max Plennevaux robbed the last defender and swept in for 1-0.
Boris Gougnard equalised for Racing when he picked up a loose ball in the circle when others had stopped for 1-1 at half-time.
Racing then took control with a powerful Tom Boon drag-flick and a Jérôme Truyens goal within two minutes made it 3-1, sweeping home from mid-circle.
With 15 minutes to go, Tanguy Zimmer got Leo back into the game from a corner but Racing held on for the win.
Truyens said of the win: “I think it was a deserved victory. Aside from the early part of the game, which was a bit complicated, we quickly imposed ourselves. Our opponent had their moments but we managed to defend and keep control of the game."
The result lifts Racing to 32 points, one behind Dragons and level with the Waterloo Ducks. Dragons beat Herakles 2-1 with Alexander Hendrickx scoring the winning goal. The Ducks won 2-1 at Braxgata.
Euro Hockey League media release
Kelburne top men’s division as chasing pack close in on women’s title leaders
Photo by Duncan Gray
Bromac Kelburne continued their drive towards their 13th consecutive men's league title, while the chasing pack closed in on leaders Edinburgh University in the women's top division.
Bromac Kelburne continued their drive towards their 13th consecutive league title after a 4-2 win over third placed Grove Menzieshill.
The Paisley side looked as if they were going to run away with the game with two goals in as many minutes. The opener came when Kiwi Nick Finlayson, who had earlier spent some time in the sin bin, deflected a high cross into the net.
Almost immediately Lee Morton doubled the tally with a fierce drive from the top of the circle. But the Taysiders were not to be humbled and Albert Rowling brought the scores level by the interval with a well taken brace.
The first emanated from the Kelburne defence failing to clear the danger and Rowling was allowed to score at the second attempt. Not long after the Taysiders were awarded a penalty corner, the initial shot was blocked and Rowling fired the rebound into the net.
The second half was a fairly even affair but Kelburne had their chances to regain the lead through Ben Peterson`s high shot that was saved by the goalkeeper, then Gary Maitles deflected a shot wide of the target.
The Paisley side finally had their noses in front again, Lee Morton had the easy job of stroking the ball home from close range after brother Craig had done all the build-up work. The result was sealed when a long high ball from Josh Cairns found Ben Peterson, he advanced into the circle and fired a low reverse stick shot into the net.
Grange cemented their second spot in the first division with a 3-0 win at Hillhead. Dominic Wild put the Edinburgh side a goal up at the interval with a penalty corner strike. A second half brace by Frank Ryan provided Grange with a comfortable win in the end.
Edinburgh University moved back up to fourth in the table after a pulsating 3-3 draw with Clydesdale at Titwood - the venue being switched due to the unavailability of Peffermill.
Clydesdale got the best of starts when Aidan Black sent a deflection into the students` net. Ian Moodie levelled for Edinburgh but Clydesdale`s lead was restored through a penalty corner strike by Andrew Allan.
The home side had the chance to increase their lead but Chris McFadden`s spot effort was well saved by David Forrester. Clydesdale did finally go 3-1 ahead with a rebound goal by Danny Cain.
Edinburgh proved the stronger side near the end and open play goals by Dan Coultas and Callum White ensured a share of the points.
Photo by Duncan Gray
In the women`s National League 1 title race the chasing pack are closing in on leaders Edinburgh University.
Milne Craig Clydesdale Western moved to within a point of the students with a convincing 4-0 win over Western Wildcats, the goals came from Lucy Lanigan, Fiona Burnet, Jen Eadie and Heather Lang. Western have a game in hand with a stronger goal-difference and are hot on the tails of Edinburgh University who had the Sunday off.
Grove Menzieshill also closed in with an 8-1 defeat of bottom side CALA Edinburgh. The Taysiders are also only a point behind Edinburgh University, but they have the luxury of two games in hand.
Lower down the division Dundee Wanderers emerged from the closely packed group with a 3-0 win at Kelburne and Emily Dark, Vikki Bunce along with Charlotte Watson on target. It was a big result for Wanderers as they attempt to pull away from the tightly congested mid-table section.
Watsonians moved up to sixth place after seeing off Hillhead 4-1in the final match of the day. The result sees them three points clear of Kelburne and two behind Wanderers as gaps begin to appear in the table.
Scottish Hockey Union media release
Italian women boldly changing perceptions
Italy's junior women have been singing the praise of their entirely female backroom team Photo: WSP/Frank Uijlenbroek
With International Women's Day approaching this Wednesday, 8 March, for Italy's junior women's indoor team it's Women's Day everyday.
When the Italian's competed in this year’s EuroHockey Indoor Junior Championships in Austria, they made history both on the field and the bench. History was made on the field as this was the first time the nation had competed at Championship level since 1991, but it was the line-up on the bench that caused a big stir among spectators.
An all-female staff of Doctor, Physiotherapist, Team Manager and Head Coach was a first for this competition and is one of few times it has happened at an international event.
Italy finished seventh, one spot above the relegation zone, which was a disappointment to the Coach as the team had started strongly and were in early contention for a place in the Semi-Finals. A loss, during a very close match with the host nation Austria, saw them slide into the relegation pool.
At the end of the competition, Head Coach Daniela Possali said: “The team just grew into the competition. After years of inactivity it was our first experience as a group in this Championship. I would have liked to finish in the top four, but we didn’t all play well consistently enough to achieve that.”
While the presence of an all-female bench was capturing the interest of the spectators, the appointment of a female Physiotherapist, Doctor and Team Manager made absolute sense to Daniela. She said: “I think it can be more productive to have a female Team Manager, Physio and Doctor because the relationship between the girls and the staff can be more understanding - it is easier for another woman to interpret the players’ needs.
“Girls usually work by intuition and, as a female player myself, I try to understand their fears and troubles. I want to understand the thoughts of every single person on the team because, as a woman, it is what I feel I have to do to get the best from the squad.”
She says that it is possible for a male coach to understand female players but adds there are some differences and needs that are particular to women, so a female is in a better position to empathise. She said: “I would go as far as to say that there is a ‘maternal instinct’ that women have which, in a coaching scenario, influences the way they react and behave towards the players.”
Daniela has coached in Italy and Holland and is now coaching top Italian club side Milan Cernusco sul Naviglo. She says her work with the Italian Under-21 indoor team was a learning curve for her as well as her players. She said: “My team only played two games before the EuroHockey Championships, there are just so few opportunities to prepare; this does not help our performance.
“During each game we improved our tactics and the team’s union. We had been training for four days before the actual event, we self-funded that and kept costs down by sleeping in a gym. Our aim was to create a group who respected and worked hard for each other."
So as a coach, is it easier to train men or women? “Well, training a men’s team is very easy. You just have to say what to do and they do it. With women, not only you have to train them for the performance, but you have to spur, console and understand them. It can be more difficult but it is very human. This is what I like about being a coach.”
FIH wants to increase the degree of professionalism throughout all areas of hockey, a key component of the organisation’s 10-year Hockey Revolution strategy which aims to make the sport a global game that inspires the next generation. This also implies to increase the number of female professionals and volunteers working in hockey, be it on the field or in governance structures.
While women’s participation in sport is still a major cause for concern across many sports in many countries, examples like this shows that there is no doubt hockey is leading the way in becoming ‘Gender Amazing’.
#BeBoldForChange
FIH site