Second Grand Masters Hockey European Cup Tournament

Amstelveen 25th - 28th August 2009

Report of England Great Grand Masters by Mike Surridge

England 3 – Scotland 0

We opened our tournament against a stubborn Scottish side, but our quality and control was too much for them. Our practice of short corner routines paid dividends and we scored though Ken Wilcock after 25 minutes and a superb near post deflection from a short corner, from Peter Ross, after 35 minutes.
We continued in the same vein after half time and went further ahead with a short corner strike from Adrian Stephenson. We should have been 4-0 when a flowing passing move left Captain Mike Surridge a tap in at the far post. Unfortunately he contrived to put it past the post!
It was an excellent opening match where the management team were able to demonstrate their trust in the whole squad and every one had a good workout.

England 2 – Germany 2

Germany are always tough opponents and the first half was hard fought with end to end play. We opened the scoring early with an excellent cross from Adrian Stephenson finding Mike Surridge on the top of the circle; he duly beat his marker and hit the ball into the corner of the net to put us ahead after 8 minutes. After a flowing move an aerial pass from Mike Surridge left Adrian Stephenson to beat the keeper from close range. This he did with aplomb, taking it onto his reverse and tapping it in. This was after 32 minutes and shortly afterwards we had the most contentious moment of the game. A hard shot from Peter Danson hit the full back on the goal line - an absolute cast iron penalty -  but umpire Theo gave a long corner with no help forthcoming from the other umpire Wim.
At half time Terry Howlett was forced to come off with a calf injury. The problem was further compounded soon after when Germany scored from a short corner and Brian Tubbs had to come off with a tight hamstring. The resultant loss of shape, plus the lift the Germans got from coming back to 2-1, put us under pressure and we eventually conceded a further goal to draw the match 2-2.
It was the low point of the tournament for us all and we could not escape the feeling that we had been umpired out of this game. However at the convivial squad evening meal in a pavement café, found by Richard, the gloom lifted and a steely determination developed.  It was still within our grasp to win the Cup!

England 2 – Holland 2

We were given an early lesson by this superb Dutch side. They had 4 ex-internationals in the side and played an excellent “possession” game. We soon found ourselves 0-2 down wondering what had hit us, an outstanding goal line save by Percy Steele, prevented us from going 0-3 behind which could well have been curtains for us! It was at this point that the indomitable team spirit kicked in. At 30 minutes a smashed cross from Peter Danson found Bob Purshouse right on the post to make a difficult tap in look easy. The Dutch were on the back foot when a mazy dribble by Percy Steele followed by a defence splitting pass, found the predatory Stephenson on the flick spot. Adrian contrived to play the ball behind his body and the resultant deflection thudded into the corner of the goal with the Dutch goalie only able to admire the impudence!
The Dutch were tiring and we played out the last quarter knowing that we had the draw that would put us through to the final! We did actually come close to going ahead with short corner efforts which narrowly missed. The first was a hard shot just inside the post from Adrian and the second, Frank Hardy nearly steering in a flick from Mike Surridge. What a brilliant whole team defence, setting us up nicely for the Final on the next day!

The Final! England 2 – Holland 0, has a nice ring to it don’t you think!

The senior pro’s were consulted and the management team of Terry John and Mike hatched a plan! They were probably too good for us to take on full blast, but were not as fit as us! We decided to set out to defend the first half and attack them in the second. Our supporters were dismayed at our lack of ambition, but we gained the prize of a 0-0 score line we had been looking for at half time.
The big push in the second half saw us boss proceedings culminating in a penalty flick when a Richard Clarke shot hit a full back on the line. The magnificent John Longden, who it transpires, had played the whole tournament with a fractured metatarsal stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to set us on our way. This first goal came at the 50 minute mark. Barely had the Dutch recovered from this blow, when Bob Pursehouse crowned his excellent game with a breakaway run and by line cross which saw Peter Ross sweep the ball into the net from close range to put us two up.
I was now watching from the sidelines, for the last 20 minutes, with the well oiled whole team defence system, just not giving the Dutch a sniff. The back four of Brian Tubbs, Percy Steele, John Longden and John Slatford were rock solid. The Midfield trio of Danson, Wilcock and Clarke dredged up their last reserves and nullified the Dutch midfield, but the coup de grace for me was the brilliant harrying of the Dutch defence by the forwards. The fresh legs of terrier Frank Hardy reinforced the magnificent efforts of Peter Ross and Bob Purshouse giving the Dutch little chance of mounting a serious attack! They did have the odd short corner, but with Alan Dures in the sort of form he had shown all tournament we were never worried! Alan pulled off a whole series of saves throughout and marshalled the defence in his usual manner ( I can still hear the “ Mike get back” ringing in my ears! )
What a team effort, a fourteen man squad that worked as a seamless unit throughout the Tournament. The management team of my right hand man Terry, Coach John and Manager Richard have my deepest thanks. I would like to especially thank my friend and Coach John, for his vision, humour and unstinting efforts throughout the lengthy campaign. From my point of view it would be an impossible job for a Captain to do without the support and guidance of a Coach. In the full England set up the Coach is in total control, but I feel that in our Masters situation, perhaps we have the best compromise as the Captain will probably know the wider pool of players talent in greater detail. I cannot conceive of captaining the GGMs without the services of a Coach. What a performance, well done everybody!

Last but not least I would just like so say how lucky we are to have such a staunch, vociferous and knowledgeable bunch of supporters, it really inspires confidence in us players. Terry’s W.A.G.s definition still amuses me  “Wives and Grannys!” Thanks again girls for your unstinting support.

Mike Surridge