News for 20 August 2017
All the news for Sunday 20 August 2017
Rabo EuroHockey Championships 2017 Results
Friday 18 August 2017
20:00 Women / Pool A NLD 3 - 1 ESP
Saturday 19 August 2017
10:15 Women / Pool B GER 4 - 1 SCO
12:30 Women / Pool A BEL 6 - 0 CZE
14:45 Women / Pool B ENG 4 - 1 IRL
17:00 Men / Pool A BEL 4 - 1 AUTAustria
20:00 Men / Pool A NED 7 - 1 ESP
Rabo EuroHockey Championships 2017 Official Website
England women start Euros campaign in style
Ellie Watton scores v Ireland
England began the defence of their EuroHockey Championships title with a convincing 4-1 win over Ireland.
Laura Unsworth, Ellie Watton, Sophie Bray and Alex Danson were all on target as the defending champions grabbed all three points in their Pool B opener.
The victory capped off a special day for England who were also celebrating the one year anniversary of Great Britain’s Olympic Gold medal win at Rio 2016 as well as the launch of the public ticket ballot for the Hockey Women’s World Cup being held in London next summer.
Reflecting on the game, defender Giselle Ansley said: "It was a good, tough and well fought game. It's a good start to our tournament but now we need to refocus ready for tomorrow's game against Germany."
From the off England were straight into the Ireland half putting heavy pressure on their defence, winning a penalty corner and penetrating the Irish area inside the first few minutes.
This early intent was soon rewarded in the fifth minute, Susannah Townsend released Unsworth into the area and her fierce cross was deflected in off an Irish stick to give England the lead.
England weren’t able to grab a second before the first break despite strong efforts from Giselle Ansley and Danson while Maddie Hinch produced a fine save to deny Roisin Upton.
The second quarter saw England continue to dominate and two minutes after the restart went close to making it 2-0. Danson stole the ball outside the area and turned quickly before releasing a rasping shot which was well saved by Grace O’Flanagan and the score remained 1-0 at half-time.
Ireland almost levelled straight from the restart in the third quarter when captain Kathryn Mullan found space in the England circle but she sliced wide her strike from a tight angle.
They were soon made to pay for this miss, from a penalty corner Ellie Rayer dragged to the left hand post where Watton was on hand to deflect high into the net on the reverse.
Ireland responded immediately though, with England down to ten players Tice scored from a penalty corner to get the Irish back into the game. However this joy was short lived as Bray grabbed England’s third with a cool finish just before the final break.
The final fifteen minutes saw England at their attacking best creating numerous chances and a winning a flurry of penalty corners. Shortly before the final whistle England made it four as Danson reacted quickest in the circle, collecting the ball and flicking calmly over the keeper.
Up next for England are Germany in Pool B, tomorrow at 4.45pm UK time, live on BT Sport.
Starting XI: Maddie Hinch, Anna Toman, Hollie Webb, Laura Unsworth, Giselle Ansley, Shona McCallin, Susannah Townsend, Lily Owsley, Hannah Martin, Alex Danson (C), Sophie Bray
Subs (Used): Jo Hunter, Ellie Watton, Emily Defroand, Ellie Rayer, Sarah Haycroft, Zoe Shipperley
Subs (Unused): Amy Tennant (GK)
England Hockey Board Media release
Green Army Undone By Defending European Champions
Photo credit: World Sport Pics
England started the tie playing very high up the pitch with only Maddie Hinch in their half, the tactic payed off with an early penalty corner and in the 5th minute the opening goal. Laura Unsworth charged along the baseline and her shot took an unlucky deflection off Shirley McCay to sneak past Grace O’Flanagan. The two sides quickly exchanged further penalty corners with Hinch saving Roisin Upton’s drag flick. Alex Danson was a constant attacking threat for the English as always and drew a phenomenal glove save from Grace O’Flanagan. The game continued at break-neck speed as Ireland began to grow into the encounter against the defending European Champions. Upton intercepted a loose ball and the slip to Anna O’Flanagan was perfectly weighted to allow her to find Katie Mullan in the circle but the English defence were on her before she could execute her reverse shot. Nicci Daly’s quick hands and skills were on display all day and she found Deidre Duke down the left side who fired a reverse across goal, just spinning past the diving Mullan on the cusp of half time.
The opening minutes of the second half looked promising for the Irish as Mullan saw her volley blaze just past Hinch’s goal but within minutes England had another PC. Ellie Watton got down in front of O’Flanagan to deflect in the straight shot from the top. But minutes later the Green Army had a PC of their own, a simple routine saw Elena Tice sweep the ball from the top and into the bottom corner to make it 2-1 in the 42nd minute. However, England showed their experience and Olympic gold medallist Sophie Bray appeared out of nowhere in the circle to tap in a pinpoint pass. Ireland couldn’t get their hands on the ball for a period as England racked up more corners but superb defending saw Tice make a double save and Hannah Matthews clear a shot off the line. The final goal came from Danson as she was quickest to the rebound from O’Flanagan’s initial save.
Commenting after the match, head coach Graham Shaw said “We didn’t start the way we would like, we needed a very good start where we could put them under a bit of pressure. But they’re a very good outfit with a lot of Olympic gold medallists in that team and showed why they’re so highly ranked in the world.
We’ll learn from the mistakes we made today, tomorrow is a huge game and we’ll try put in a performance we can be proud of”.
The Green Army are next in action tomorrow (August 20th) against Scotland at 12:15pm (Irish time), with the fixture to be shown live on BT Sport, matches are also available in some countries via this stream https://www.eurohockeytv.org.
Ireland men’s hockey team begin their campaign tomorrow (2:30pm Irish time) against Germany, shown live on BT Sport.
Rabo Eurohockey Championship
Ireland 1 (Tice)
England 4 (Unsworth, Watton, Bray, Danson)
Ireland: G O’Flanagan, Y O’Byrne, K Mullan (Captain), S McCay, E Tice, R Upton, C Watkins, N Daly, A O’Flanagan, Z Wilson, D Duke
Subs: C Cassin, N Evans, E Beatty, G Pinder, S Loughran, H Matthews, A Meeke
England: M Hinch, L Unsworth, A Toman, H Martin, S Townsend, A Danson (Captain), G Ansley, S Bray, H Webb, S McCallin, L Owsley
Subs: Z Shipperley, S Haycroft, E Rayer, E Defroand, E Watton, A Tennant, J Hunter
Women:
August 19th- Ireland 1vs4 England 14:45
August 20th- Ireland vs Scotland 13:15
August 22nd- Ireland vs Germany 14:45
Crossover/classification matches to be played on 24th & 26th
NB. All times listed are local
Full schedule: http://rabo-eurohockeychampionships2017.com/wedstrijden/
Irish Hockey Association media release
Composed England too strong for Ireland in Euro opener
Grace O’Flanagan makes one of a series of saves for Ireland. Pic: Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics
England produced a composed performance to see off Ireland 4-1, a year to the day since they won the Olympic gold in Rio in their GB guise.
The victory was in contrast to the recent World League meeting between the sides that ended 3-2; England built a strong lead before Lena Tice gave Ireland a lifeline. But two goals either side of the three quarter mark swung the game out of reach of Ireland.
Graham Shaw said of the performance: “Frustrated; we needed a good start to put them under pressure and we didn’t do that the way we would like. To be fair, they are a very good team and have a lot of gold medalists in their team.
“They showed why they are ranked so high and we have a long way to go until we match a team like that. We put a few good phases together but we didn’t manage the phases after our goal well enough and that let them straight back into it.”
England raced out of the blocks and took the lead when Laura Unsworth’s cross, from an incisive pass from Susannah Townsend, took a nasty deflection off the top of Shirley McCay’s cross which deceived Grace O’Flanagan at the near post.
After that, the goalkeeper made some world class saves, the pick of them from Alex Danson’s rasping drive after a Hannah Matthews clearance went straight to her at the top of the circle.
England were on top but were not able to capitalise further and Ireland were well in it. In return, Roisin Upton drew the best of Maddie Hinch with a corner drag-flick while Deirdre Duke’s vicious cross just eluded the dive of Katie Mullan.
After the break, Mullan battled her way through for another chance but her volley flashed well wide. England moved two clear when Ellie Watton nudged in a clever corner move at the left post from Elena Rayer’s disguised shot.
Ireland, though, continued to create and got a lifeline when Lena Tice’s sweep – which looked more like it was destined for a deflector – found its way in at the right post.
But, within a minute, England restored their two-goal gap as Lily Owsley drifted in-field from the right sideline and angled a diagonal pass in behind the Irish defence. Sophie Bray applied the finish at close quarters for 3-1.
Tice saved one off the line, employing her cricket skills to good effect, but Danson dug out a fourth goal with five minutes to go when she picked the ball off O’Flanagan’s pads and flicked in, closing out a 4-1 result.
It adds to the importance of Sunday’s date with Scotland (12.15pm, Irish time). They lost 4-1 to Germany and so this is a vital one for both sides, either in terms of reaching the semi-finals or carrying points into the relegation pool.
“Tomorrow’s a huge game and both Scotland and ourselves know that. We will recover as well as we can so we can put in a performance that we can be proud of.”
Women’s Rabo EuroHockey Championships
Pool B:
England 4 (L Unsworth, E Watton, S Bray, A Danson)
Ireland 1 (L Tice)
England: M Hinch, L Unsworth, A Toman, H Martin, S Townsend, A Danson, G Ansley, S Bray, H Webb, S McCallin, L Owsley
Subs: Z Shipperley, S Haycroft, E Rayer, E Defroand, E Watton, J Hunter, A Tennant
Ireland: G O’Flanagan, Y O’Byrne, K Mullan, S McCay, L Tice, R Upton, C Watkins, N Daly, A O’Flanagan, Z Wilson, D Duke
Subs: N Evans, E Beatty, G Pinder, S Loughran, H Matthews, A Meeke, C Cassin
Umpires: M Meister (GER), V Bagdanskiene (LTU)
The Hook
Shaw ambitious ahead of Green Army Euro battles
Irish coach Graham Shaw. Pic: Adrian Boehm
Graham Shaw says his Irish women’s side is all in good health and raring to go for a shot at history, potentially breaking into the European top four for the first time.
Speaking on the eve of the competition and an opening date with England (BT Sport 3, 1.45pm Irish time), he resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes to the panel despite the close proximity to the Hockey World League in Johannesburg.
“When you have all your players making themselves available for both tournaments, it’s very difficult with just one weekend of training to make changes,” Shaw said.
“Particularly when you feel you have performed quite well, when they have been away for a month together, playing at a high level, growing and learning a lot about each other.
“It’s not taking away from any of the girls at home but we felt the squad that came together in Jo’burg looked very sharp and so we decided to go with them.”
His two changes, as such, were enforced with Ayeisha McFerran’s foot injury meaning Clodagh Cassin came in while Lizzie Colvin is out for work reasons with Ali Meeke in.
From a group of England, Scotland and Germany, Shaw is ambitious that his side can shake up the established order and reach the semi-finals.
“It’s definitely a possibility, 100%, when you look at the results over the last number of months. Against Germany and England, they have been tight affairs as with Scotland. There’s definitely results to be gotten from each game.
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves and we will aim for a result against England first and then the others. A win and a draw can get you through to a semi-final.
“On any given day, when we play to our strengths, we can catch these teams off-guard and that’s what we are aiming to do. It will be a difficult task against excellent sides but we are confident in our ability.”
It comes at the back end of a busy year on the road for the Green Army, an intense year which has moved them to the brink of World Cup qualification.
“It’s been an incredibly intense eight months. We travelled to Malaysia on January 2 for World League 2 which no one else did [from this tournament].
“We have had so much time together since then. When you have so many high profile tournaments in one year, physically and emotionally, trying to freshen things up in how you approach things, keeping people focused, it’s a very difficult task.
“For the players, its been a very long year. It started with their clubs last September through to May. Add in an intense international programme, going to Malaysia, GB, Germany, USA, Germany again, and then South Africa.
“It’s something the FIH have to look and every team – speaking to the other coaches – is feeling it. There’s a lot of fatigue around the squads and probably in the management as well.
“But we do love representing our county and a Europeans is a perfect opportunity to get us back going. It’s an exciting tournament and what better place to play than in Holland.”
To that end, they can look forward to playing in front of some of the biggest crowds of their careers with over 80,000 tickets already sold for the tournament which got underway on Friday evening to much fanfare in the beautifully revamped Wagener Stadium.
The Hook
Plucky Scots defeated by Germany in opening Euro match in Amsterdam
Scotland huddle in Euros warm-up v France. Photo by Duncan Gray
Home » News » Plucky Scots defeated by Germany in opening Euro match in Amsterdam
Scotland women lost their opening match of RABO EuroHockey Championship 2017 in a 4-1 defeat to a strong German side. The Scots dug deep, and were unlucky to not have scored more, but the Olympic medal-winning Germans were clinical in front of goal and ran out as tough winners.
It was a blistering opening by Germany, and they took an early lead when the ball was scrambled home inside the opening minute. Charlotte Stapenhorst got the final touch to force the ball past Amy Gibson and give Germany the lead.
Gibson then had to make a strong reaction save with her left pad when Teresa Martin Pelegrina turned quickly and fired toward goal. Gibson confidently padded the ball away from goal.
As the opening quarter came to a close Germany won a penalty corner off the toe of Amy Costello and made no mistake from the injection. Pia Grambusch slammed the ball past Amy Gibson which deflected into the roof of the net off a Scottish stick to make it 2-0.
The second quarter saw Scotland as a more attacking threat and causing the Germans grief down the flanks. They nearly scored when Sarah Robertson smashed a shot low toward the right corner, but it was saved and led to the award of a penalty corner.
Robertson injected the penalty corner, the keeper saved a couple of efforts before the ball popped up and Robertson latched onto it with an overhead smash, but it went just wide of the post.
Then on the cusp of half time a tremendous save by Amy Gibson denied a third German goal. The keeper showed great reflexes to dive to her right and save well at her top corner.
Scotland looked to attack after the restart as Sarah Robertson powered forward but was crowded out, then Nikki Lloyd showed good pace to outrun the German defence but her pass across goal failed to find a Scottish stick.
Scotland line-up v France. Photo by Duncan Gray
Early in the final quarter a German penalty corner slammed against the post and bounced clear. Then a tremendous double save by Amy Gibson denied a German third, but it would be 3-0 a short time later. An excellent shot on the turn was slammed low against the backboard by Teresa Martin Pelegrina.
It was 4-0 a short time later when the ball was scooped past the advancing Gibson for Stapenhorst to tap-in at the far post.
Scotland got a well-deserved goal in the final five minutes when Fiona Burnet deflected home from a penalty corner. It was a slick routine that found Burnet stooping low to deflect the ball into the roof of the German net to make it 4-1.
Scotland Head Coach Gordon Shepherd said, “We knew it would be a tough match – they’re Olympic medallists and a really good team. The early goal made things even harder but we had a few chances ourselves and could have levelled the game.
“I’m delighted with some of the performances and there were a number of players who were consistent and very capable at this level. It’s a quick turnaround for tomorrow’s match and if we improve in a few areas then we’re certainly capable. The girls can certainly go into it with their heads high.”
Scottish Hockey Union media release
No vengeance mission on cards as Dutch and Belgium tee up rematch
© Frank Uijlenbroek
Mink van der Weerden says there will be no sense of going out for Rio revenge when the Netherlands meet Belgium on Monday evening in the EuroHockey Championships in the Wagener Stadium.
The two sides produced some breathtaking hockey on the opening day of the men’s competition in Amsterdam. The Belgians opened up the competition with a 4-1 win over Austria with Loick Luypaert scoring twice on his 26th birthday.
All the goals came in the first half and the Braxgata defender feels his team is in perfect physical shape to try and take down the Dutch in their next game on Monday evening.
“We had a really good World League 3 with a long preparation. This is our main event and we used that for our preparation for this so everyone is very fit and we will have Manu Stockbroekx back in the next game which will give us a really good push.
“One year ago, we beat them in Rio so they will be keen on revenge, especially in front of their home crowd but we will give them a really good battle.”
Van der Weerden was also on the mark as the Dutch delighted their home crowd with a 7-1 mauling of Spain. They dominated throughout and could have won by more but for the brilliance of Quico Cortes.
“It’s a pleasure to play a tournament like this in your own country,” van der Weerden said of the tie, playing in front of a packed house of orange.
“That first 25 minutes, we were already playing really well but couldn’t get it in the goal. But we felt in control and were patient enough to keep playing the same game, creating the good chances. The chances were good shots but Quico was fantastic.”
And so to the Belgian challenge on Monday; any thoughts of vengeance?
“It’s a massive challenge. They have played really well. It’s going to be interesting. They play a very different game from Spain so we have to prepare for that.
“So many things have changed since then [the Rio Olympics] on both sides. Quite a few guys are still around but its quite a different setup, a different way of playing, a whole different structure. We could have played for revenge one or two days after [the game in Rio] but now its another year, another tournament!”
Euro Hockey League media release
Rival teams ready to slug it out for men’s field hockey silver
INDONESIA and Thailand have followed Singapore’s cue by setting up base in Malaysia in the hope of winning silver in the men’s field hockey.
The Singaporeans have been training in Malaysia for the past three weeks while Indonesia flew in a week early to set up base in Kuala Terengganu.
Thailand chose Ipoh as their base to get some quality practice matches.
With Malaysia clearly a class above, the three teams are in a fight of their own to get into the final and take the silver.
Singapore national coach K. Rajan said: “We have to face reality. Malaysia are way ahead of us. For us, the final is the target and we are preparing for that challenge. We have had some good practice matches.”
Although Malaysia know that there is a huge gulf in class, they are not taking anything for granted.
“We want to win the gold and there will be no let-up in our preparations. I want the players to be fully focused and take each match seriously,” said national coach Stephen van Huizen.
“We used to be casual and complacent when playing against lower-ranked teams. That cannot happen here.”
Hockey starts tomorrow but Malaysia will not start their campaign until Wednesday against Indonesia.
This is followed by matches against Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar. The top two teams from the round-robin preliminary round will meet in the final.
Stephen said that it is good that “Malaysia will get to see all four teams in action before our opening match”.
“That will give us a chance to know what we are up against. Basically, if we play to our strength, then we should go through,” he said.
Hockey offers four golds – two in field hockey (men and women) and two in indoor hockey (men and women)
The Star of Malaysia
Euro display has widened player pool: Manpreet Singh
Dhananjay Roy
MUMBAI: The Indian team drew considerable flak for their below-par performance at the World Hockey League Semi Final in June. They finished sixth in the competition, and baring the two wins over a weak Pakistan outfit, the side led Manpreet Singh did little of note. The selectors responded by bringing in six new faces for their tour to Europe which began on August 9, where they played Belgium and the Netherlands (two Tests each), and concluded with a solitary game against Austria.
To their credit, Roelant Oltman's side put up commendable displays, and although they were beaten 2-0 (series score) by Belgium, they regrouped remarkably to trump the Dutch 2-0 before edging past the Austrians. "The challenge before us was to raise our game after some poor results, especially in the HWL, and that's what we managed to do," Manpreet told TOI on Saturday. So, how did they turn things around, especially after losing to Belgium?
"We may have lost the games against Belgium, but our performance wasn't bad. It's just that we ended up wasting numerous opportunities which cost us heavily," explained the midfielder, who was given the chance to lead the team in goalkeeper PR Sreejesh's absence.
He was especially pleased by the gumption shown by the young brigade and credited their performance for the striking turnaround they witnessed against a strong team like the Netherlands. " All of them were eager to show that they are capable of playing for the senior team and that's what they managed. Gurjant (Singh), Varun (Kumar) and Armaan (Qureshi) scored goals and that will surely help their confidence in the forthcoming camps."
Manpreet also had words of praise for the young defender and drag-flicker Amit Rohidas, and believes the performance of the team has widened the pool of players from which the selectors can choose. "Our focus for the remainder of the year is on the Asia Cup followed by the HWL final in Bhubaneswar. So the more players we have who are performing, the better it is for us. Some of the boys got a chance because three of our senior players were injured, and it's a positive sign that they are eager to do well."
The lack of a decent replacement for the injured Sreejesh has been a cause for concern of late, but Manpreet said Akash Chikte and Suraj Karkera, the two custodians who stood under the bar on the tour, gave a good account of themselves. "It's not easy to find a goalkeeper of Sree bhai's calibre, but both Akash and Suraj did well. Both, Belgium and Holland, have some world class strikers and drag flickers, but the two of them showed a lot of courage." On his own captaincy, Manpreet said: "I don't mind admitting that there are times when I have made mistakes. But, I have made it a point to speak to the seniors like Sardar, Sreejesh, Rupinderpal."
The Times of India
Solomon Islands Hockey to have Aussie coach
By CROFTON UTUKANA
OHF Continental Development Officer Gill Gemming handing over hockey equipment to the SIHF president Nihal Seneviratne in Vanuatu.
AN Australian hockey coach will soon team up with the national hockey players in preparation for the upcoming Inter-continental Cup in Australia.
President of the Solomon Islands Hockey Federation (SIHF) Nihal Seneviratne revealed this to Star Sports yesterday following a discussion with Oceania Hockey Federation (OHF) Continental Development Officer Gill Gemming in Vanuatu on Thursday.
“OHF will send an Australian hockey coach to come and help our hockey squads both boys and girls in preparation for the Intercontinental Cup,’’ he said.
“Gill confirmed this to me here in Vanuatu,’’ Seneviratne added.
The president says to have a coach from Australia will be a great boost for our hockey players.
During their meeting in Vanuatu, OHF also donated hockey equipment to SIHF.
“The equipment will be used by our development officers to run their programs in the country,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, president Seneviratne thanked OHF for their continuous support towards SIHF development programs.
The Solomon Star