Grand Masters Hockey World Cup- Cape Town, South Africa
ENGLAND GREAT GRAND MASTERS
England Great Grand Masters 1 - Netherlands 0
Holland took the game to England in the first half and only some great goalkeeping by Paddy Maher keep the scores level at half time. The short corner count was Holland 5 ..... England 1, so it was a good performance by the English defence to keep them in the game. After half time, the GGM's began to get more fluency into their game and were rewarded when Adrian Stephenson found the net from a penalty corner. Several more good saves from Paddy Maher and solid marking prevented the Dutch from scoring the equaliser that they threatened.
England GGM 1 – Germany 0
In a very physical game, Germany played a tactical
battle for much of the game, relying on the long through ball to a lone
striker to make the break through and using rough and ready tactics to break
down any English attempts to play with any cohesion.
England
unfortunately lost the mobility of Ted Hayes in the first half to a
hamstring injury, but Bob Purshouse showed tenacity down the right wing to
prise open the German defence.
Playing conditions were not easy, but with
a gale force wind blowing into their faces in the second half England
fashioned several chances to score, notably from short corners, when Captain
Mike Surridge was unlucky not to connect after finding himself in a superb
position.
The break through eventually came from another penalty corner,
when Brian Perryman slipped the ball left to Adrian Roberson, whose fierce
shot flew into the net off a German stick.
With eighteen minutes
remaining, England weathered, rather than controlled the storm and with just
10 seconds remaining, foolishly gave Germany the opportunity to level the
scores by conceeding penalty corner. Germany declined the invitation and
allowed England to carry forward six points from two games.
John Longdon
and Adrian Robertson performed steadfastly at the back for joint man of the
match awards.
England GGM 0
– Australia
Reverting to the diamond formation with Brian Perryman at
the top of the formation and Ken Wilcock in the holding role worked well and
the team began to exude confidence that resulted in the high penalty corner
tally, but unfortunately, nothing came of them. England GGM's now face
Scotland after a well earned two day break in a game that will decide who
plays who in the cross over matches. Man of the match voted for by the
Australians, was Brian Perryman, who was presented with an Australian team
shirt.
Several positional changes after the break
disrupted the fluency of their attack, but England always had control of the
game and increased their goal tally mid way into the second half, when Mike
Surridge netted his second of the game.
GGM's now progress into the semi
final stage and play Germany at 1700 on Tuesday for a place in the final.
Shortly afterwards, Terry Howlett found Mike Surridge on the left
wing, whose jinking run earned a penalty corner. This was not the sharpest
of routines, but the ball broke free for Surridge to pop the ball in the net
for the second goal. A few minutes later, Norman Ballard found Stephenson in
the circle with a tremendous ball and although not able to score directly,
eared another penalty corner, which was converted to make it 3-0 after only
fifteen minutes .At this stage it was all over for Germany and a cloud of
resignation hung over them like the clouds at the top of Table Mountain. The
whole squad played magnificently to earn a place in the final against
Australia on Friday.
As early as the eighth minute Adrian
Robertson's disguised pass found Adrian Stephenson in the circle and he was
able to force the ball home. Whether it was complacency or new energy from
the Aussies, there followed a period of strong pressure on the England goal,
resulting in a series of penalty corners. Paddy Maher made several World
Class saves to deny the Aussies a way back into the game. Bob Pursehouse on
the right wing always posed a threat and had two goal line wobbles dealt
with in last ditch tackles.
The second half became a bit of a nervous
affair until thirteen minutes from time, when Terry Howlett fired a missile
like pass to Mike Surridge at the top of the circle and the England captain
kept his cool to lift the ball into the net.
Peter Ross, Ken Wilcock,
Peter Crayford and Ali Watson all played valuable rolls in replacing tired
legs and the injured Ted Hayes got on to the pitch with just two minutes to
go to savour the atmosphere of a confident Gold Medal performance.
