Field Hockey - Fih Pro League 2020-21

Discussion in 'General Football & Other Sport' started by Bwood_Horn, Oct 28, 2020.

  1. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Onto the weekend's matches first the Lions. They faced the "...up and coming..." (ie not very good) Seffricans. On Saturday, by the end of the first half England had totally outclassed, a frankly woeful, RSA 3-0 with all the goals coming from well drilled penalty corner routines. With 10 minutes into the third quarter it looked like a real panelling was on the cards with a beautiful goal scored by the masked Sam Ward but I would like to say that England took their foot off the gas but the one field goal (shortly after they pulled one back for a PC) scored by RSA in Q4 was a real peach of a shot - final core ENG 4 -2 RSA.

    Come the return match on midday Sunday the crowd were expecting more of the same especially as the Lions scored from two PCs in Q1. But RSA really defended well pinning ENG in the midfield throughout the close of the first half and the opening of the second. The dogged South African defence was broken in Q3 with England scoring a third with the game ending ENG 3 - 0 RSA. The Lions have played (and beaten) two fairly average teams (FRA and RSA) - first real test of the series comes next weekend when the very good Dutch.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2022
  2. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Onto the Lionesses and Spain. The Red Sticks are a good side (two places below England in the world rankings) playing quick, attacking hockey. Judging by last week's Chinese debacle any non-cricket score would be a result. Q1 was end-to-end stuff with neither side scoring. Midway through Q2 the Lionesses' captain converted a PC which was followed a great goal scored by Lily Owsley giving England a two goal lead at half-time. Spain had three PCs in the first half and it was disconcerting to see England's 2nd choice GK, Sabbie Heesh, to continually defend these by literally laying down in front of the goal line especially when, in Q3, the ball lazily floated past her prone head to earn Spain a goal (2-1). In the opening seconds of Q4 England scored from a well-worked PC routine which Spain couldn't answer leading to a final score of ENG 3 - 1 ESP.

    Thus, on Sunday expectations were high for another English victory in the re-match with the news the the Lionesses' talisman, the legendary, Maddie Hinch would be returning between the posts. From the starting whistle the Red Sticks came out flying challenging and winning every tackle. Q1 remained scoreless and in Q2 England's response to the high pressing, fast Spanish game was a series of missed passes and clumsy defending gifting the opposition a PC - a good routine the netted a goal just before half time. In the 2nd half England just had no credible response to Spain's well-disciplined display but the Red Sticks lacked the killer instinct to put the ball in the back of the net. For the final 2 minutes of the match England gambled on subbing Maddie with an outfield player only for their attack to crumble and Spain getting their 2nd in an open goal: ENG 0 - 2 ESP.

    Beeb reports of Saturday's games here and Sunday's matches here.

    The all conquering Dutch girls (although with many new faces in the team) arrive this weekend.
     
  3. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    What a weekend with the arrival of the Dutch girls and boys. Looking at first the Lionesses they faced the, once, all conquering Oranjes. The, previously, superlative Netherlands (any competition they were in ended up who would come 2nd) are in the process of rebuilding after a spate of retirements both on-field and off- (the Chinese managed to force the superb coach Alyson Annan out of retirement). Saturday's game saw the Dutch playing at warp speed from of the off but their pressure was easily absorbed by a feisty English side forcing a PC in Q2 meaning the the Lionesses were in the lead at the end of the first half (score by my favourite player Anna Tomen, 1-0). Towards the end of a bitterly contested Q3 England scored a fantastic FG to absorb some of the pressure going into the final quarter. The Dutch threw everything in the final quarter upping the pace of play and claiming some consolation in the 48th minute with an exquisitely converted PC in the goal's top corners. This was closely followed an insanely heavy Dutch tackle the led to a yellow card followed by the 9 outfield players committing a serious foul in their 'D' with Lily Owlesy slotting the PS home - final score ENG 3 - 1 NED a fitting result celebrating talisman GK Maddie Hinch's century of caps.

    Sunday's rematch was anticipated to be much of the same especially with England's Elena Rayer scoring in the 9th minute. But the orange tsumani never ceased in its speed and intensity and England were fortunate to still be leading as we went into the 2nd half. Second half and England's discipline started to lag which was capitalised by the Dutch scoring two quick PCs in succession and the Lionesses for the rest of the match were literally holding back the flow but managed to keep the Ornajes at bay: final score ENG 1 : 2 NED.

    This was a new Dutch side and for me their stand-out player was no 52 Tessa Beetsma (this was only her 3rd cap) when the squad finally gel (for this year's World Cup) I *think* they're going to be another 'Greatest Ever' squad like their forebears. The Lionesses did 'good' soaking up all that pressure but you don't score goals by defending and they looked sluggish comapre to the Dutch - I can only hope it was becasue they didn't get out of third gear and are saving themselves for the Brexit Commonwealth Games.
     
  4. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Highlights of Saturday's match (ENG 3 - 1 NED):


    Highlights of Sunday's match (ENG 1 - 2 NED):
     
  5. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Apologies for the delay. Turning to the boys the very good Dutch (no 3 in world rankings behind Belgium and the Ozzies) started game 1 pressuring England from the off - they were a blue blur and England appeared stunned by their attacks - by the end of Q1 were losing 0:2. For the end of the first half and start of the 2nd England just about held the blue tsunami back but the Lions' toothless attacks just weren't enough to breakthrough. Hopes were low for an England comeback in Q4 and 10 minutes into the final quarter the Dutch finally put England out of their misery with an absolutely stunning volley. Final score ENG 0 -3 NED:



    Hope weren't high for any result from the Cloggies on Sunday, who turned up invigorated and up for it. The Oranjes opened the scoring with 45 secs on the clock with a FG that the England appeared to defend by using their Jedi mind-tricks (the English defenders and GK only saw the goal by actually watching the replay on the stadium's big screen). If it was a blue tsunami on Saturday it was orange lightning on Sunday as the Dutch capitalised on a defensive howler 2 mins into Q2 and a very quick counter-attack 7 mins later. Against the run of play England nicked one back: half time 1 - 3. Halfway through Q3 the Lions managed to convert a PC with a good routine which was answered by a 45m pinpoint pass overheaded into the England net. For the final quarter the Dutch decided to go into overdrive scoring 2 mins in which was answered by a quite good England goal 5 mins later (3 - 5). But the Dutch had one final humiliation to dish out - slotting one into an open goal : final score ENG 3 - 6 NED.



    Slightly worrying to see that the Lions could barely contain the Dutch attacks let alone gifting them defensive howlers and very sluggish play. The boys really have to up their game with the arrival of the Red Lions (who've recently been knocked off their world no.1 spot by the ozzies) this weekend.

    Beeb reports on Saturday's matches here and Sunday's games here.
     
  6. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Bwood some odd results in the league this season. Is it down to changes in players with teams rotating personnel ? India losing to France after thumping them in a reverse fixture ? Germany struggling then the likes of SA and France doing quite well in the odd match as in holding Holland.
     
  7. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    It's a difficult to pin down just one thing. This ProLeague is a bit of a waste of time as league positions don't count for anything (Olympic qualification, World/Euro cups etc) except points for world rankings. Also we had the big guns from Oz (and NZ) pulling out. The heavy hitters in the women's game are trying out new squads (ENG, GER, ARG, BEL and, most notably NED) and new tactics for the World Cup in the Summer (ENG appear to have been practising a quick aerial into the 'D' with a diving deflection into goal).

    Some of the boys and girls squads would be doing the same for the up and coming Brexit Commonwealth games (ENG, RSA and IND).

    FRA are in an odd position - sitting at the top table but building a squad (and tactics) for their hosting of the Olympics - they have a bit of history in the game which they might be trying to regain - looking at their men's squad list virtually all their players are based in Belgium.

    Next years is 'back to normal but different'. Positions will be used for qualification for the Olympics and the bottom placed team in the league will be relegated to the tier 2 competition "Nations Cup" (RSA men and USA women) with the Nations Cup winners 2022 (Dec) promoted to the ProLeague. GB not ENG will be competing.
     
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  8. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Saturday's matches against the two Belgium squads were very easy to forecast the Lionesses would hammer the Red Panthers and the Lions would be spanked by the Red Lions.

    Ten minutes into Q1, very much against the pattern of play, an unmarked Red Panther popped the ball over a prone Maddie Hinch. The Lionesses just couldn't get it together in the 'D' the continually dominated the midfield but couldn't get the ball in the back of the net - half time ENG 0 : BEL 1. Q3 was more of the same until Tess Howard broke through into the BEL 'D' to shoot and score the equaliser. More pressure was applied in Q4 with ENG awarded a penalty corner in the 50th minute (PC are a weakness of the Lionesses) - but a new routine saw Grace Baldon slotting home the winner - fine score ENG 2 : BEL 1:



    The Lions were the served up for the slaughter facing a squad who are World AND Olympic champions (currently they've dropped to no. 2 in the world rankings behind the Ozzies). Q1 was as expected - ENG barely holding back the red tide, although in the dying seconds the Lions had a penalty stroke decision overturned. I was a guest of EH (attending as part of their inclusive FLYERZ project) and it was quite something to have a group of ASD boys and a Downs girl discussing how slow the English play was compared to Belgium (if they can see it why can't the coaches?). Q2 was much the same with the Whites barely containing the Reds (notably by the ENG GK Olly Payne) when, towards the end of the quarter, during a rare foray into the BEL 'D', an unexpected flick of the ball ended up in the Red Lions' net - half time score ENG 1 : BEL 0 (it's well worth checking out the 'Lineups' too as you can see what a relatively 'new' squad ENG is compared to BEL by the number of caps they've won). Second half opened with the Lions scoring an absolute peach of a goal that was instantly replied to by BEL - the rest of the quarter was more heroic defending against the Red Lions again Payne's keeping was exemplary. In the anticipated final quarter ENG had a goal 'saved' by the umpire (ball hit him in the face) and the well-oiled BEL penalty corner machine worked its usual magic grabbing the equaliser in the final minute of the game. In the literal dying seconds of the game an ENG shot sadly went wide, final score ENG 2 : BEL 2. ProLeague rules are that has to be a winner decided by 'shuffles' (a penalty shootout) - I won't say anything about them as the video says it all:



    BBC reports of Saturday's games here.

    I didn't see Sunday's matches (and I haven't watched the highlights on TV) but the Lionesses were hammered 1-4:



    And normal service was resumed by the Red Lions battering ENG 0-5:



    FFS: Just watched the Lions match - the final three of the BEL goals were scored in an open goal.
     
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  9. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    Thanks Bwood for sharing some tickets for the weekend. Passed them onto club mates but watched some good games on BT sport.
     
  10. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Hoddly henuff, Wednesday's GK school (which my son attends) was focussed on PCD's (penalty corner defence). One strategy of which is 'Logging' - taught to the kids with the byline "...you don't have to use it if you're uncomfortable with it...".

    Interesting data from some homework to kids were given to look at before the lesson:

    Screenshot from 2022-06-24 07-27-27.png Screenshot from 2022-06-24 07-29-17.png
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2022
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  11. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    You don't deserve me.
     
  12. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    The Lionesses' first game in the WC was last night against a newly resurgent India. Normally these group stage matches (4 teams in a group, 4 groups, winner of each group qualifies for the quarter finals of the KO stages with the 2nd and 3rd place teams play 'crossover' games to see who joins the 1st place teams in the quarters) are fairly turgid affairs as all of the top sides playing very cautiously. In England's group, as well as India, are the Kiwis and the Chinese - the Chinese would normally be classed as the whipping boys (girls) but judging by their performance against ENG in the ProLeague... they really can't be taken for granted. Things looked good with a beautiful field goal by Izzyy Petter half-way through Q1 but India had a game plan and they were sticking to it: defending deep (and they were very disciplined judging by the low number of PCs awarded against them, ISTR zero) and focussing on quick counter-attacks on the break. It really worked as it played to the Indian girls' speed and forced the Lionesses to give away a large number of PC's which allowed the Nabhvarna (sky blues?) to equalise towards the end of Q2.

    Second half was more of the same (Indian defending deep and almost scoring with PC routines that hit the frame or were stopped by excellent GK skills form Maddie Hinch) while ENG appeared to be focussing on getting goals through open play routines (namely the high pass/cross across the opposition goal which is deflected into goal by a player running through the 'D' at speed - something they did numerous times in the recent London ProLeague). For the final 7 minutes of the match IND switched to a far more pressing game, attacking ENG's goal but couldn't break down the defence. Final score ENG 1 - 1 IND which, at the final whistle, the Nabhvarna did not looked best pleased with.



    The two other teams in the group, NZ and CHN, also drew 2 - 2 meaning the group's living up to its cliched "Group of Death" moniker.



    FWIW something I have noticed is the umpires not punishing "a swing and a miss" as dangerous/uncontrolled play... Something there for @wfcmoog - as weren't you doing the umpires courses?

    Lionesses in action again tomorrow night at 18h30 (on BT Sport)against NZ's Blacksticks.

    Lots of highlights on the FIH you tube channel.
     
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  13. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Bit of a delay due to other commitments and 'other' reasons (see below).

    First up on Tuesday, from the group of death, was IND vs CHN. As expected is was a very 'tactical' match, very end-to-end stuff with a final score of 1 - 1 although I have to say that India looked the better side dominating more in attack:



    The game before the Lionesses was JPN vs (the frankly woeful) RSA. What a game! 3 - 3 with the Saffers, finally playing as a team, getting two goals to equalize in the final quarter.



    FWIW the Cherry Blossoms kit is the bast one on display - I love the Barbarella feel (I know it's representative of traditional SE Asian dress but...):

    Sakura-Japan-2018ï¼·ï¼£uniform.jpg

    So onto Tuesday's most important game the Black Sticks vs Lionesses the . Now on paper this should be a win for ENG as the difference in world rankings (3 places) but mainly because due to C19 the Kiwis haven't been playing any matches for over two years (they also pulled out of 2021-22's ProLeague at very short notice). Things looked good with Lily Owsley, in the 3rd min, capitalising on the GK's error 0 - 1. ENG's play looked better (especially in midfield) and the PC's they were awarded looked more threatening. Towards the end of Q2 a sun-blinded Maddie Hinch let in a 'howler' - what's really annoying about this she's sponsored by Obo (tagline: "Good S**t that Really Works!!"a Kiwi company producing some of the best designed/most expensive GK gear) and it looks like they coughed-up the 23 quid for some Obo blinders (aka "strip of plastic worth 2p") for her helmet which didn't appear to work (in these situations my son plays in these). Score at half-time 1 - 1.

    Five minutes into the second half, with NZ playing into the blinding Dutch evening sun, the Lionesses put the ball into the back of the Kiwi net (actually it was deflected off the arm of a defender) from a PC. Now a lot of hockey's rules define what is "...dangerous..." play - as you can imagine a sport which comprises hitting a hard ball with a heavy stick needs to do everything it can to promote "...safe..." play. As the ball had 'struck' a Kiwi player on the upper body, the umpire disallowed the goal, so the Lionesses appealed the decision to the 3rd (video) umpire who upheld the original decision and ENG lost their right to further appeals. This is annoying as it was, IMHO, the turning point in the match - umpires had been ignoring a lot of "...swing and a miss..." type shots during this competition which are the classic examples of dangerous play. This event totally shook the Lionesses with Maddie failing to stop another sitter (nutmegged) three minutes later with the score at the end of Q3 2 - 1.

    What followed in Q4 was "All That's Wrong with England's Training". Basically for virtually the entirety of the quarter the Lionesses were camped in NZ's 'D' with 13 PCs awarded. Not only was one of routines best described as 'comical' for some strange reason the squad decided to repeat this comical routine over and over again. In a rare excursion out of their area, the Black Sticks managed to muster an attack which was only stopped by an English foul in their own circle. In the resultant PC the Kiwis showed us what a truly comical routine looked like by lazily lobbing the ball over the prone GK Maddie. England couldn't even capitalise on NZ losing a player to the sin bin for the final minutes: final score NZ 3 - 1 ENG.



    For an elite level team to be a phased by a couple of 'iffy' umpiring decisions AND don't have the nous to use numerous set-pieces to any advantage suggests that there is something seriously lacking in their training regime and the team ability to learn anything from them. Even more nauseating was the Lioness's response in the press the following day complaining that they couldn't believe they were beaten as the played so well...

    England had to get a win in the final group match against an unfancied team (CHN - who, TBF, embarrassed ENG in the recent ProLeague recording their first ever international win).
     
  14. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Well, the Lionesses have made it to the WC QFs meeting a very, very good Argentinian side tonight (at 18h00 tonight). They did this by beating the, not too bad, Chinese in their final group match:



    Beeb report here.

    An awful lot of wags are pointing out that this match was "the mirror image" of ENG's previous game with the BlackSticks. Remember, against to Kiwis the Lionesses 'scored' from a PC but was the goal was disallowed, "Dangerous play", ENG appealed but the referral was denied so they lost their referral which, pretty much, changed the pattern of play. This time an English PC was scored but the Chinese appealed to the video umpire but she upheld the umpire's original decision so the Chinese lost their right to refer further and that really changed the balance of play - England's 2nd goal looked really 'iffy'. It's a real shame that, BT's 'normal' co-commentator, Simon Mason isn't there as he's a GK and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules of the game. I *think* England's 'Chinese penalty' was allowed as the original trajectory of the shot indicated that it would have hit the goal's backboard. This is really one for @wfcmoog as ISTR he was doing an umpire's course at one point?

    Onto England's first 'crossover' match (important as this gives each team a ranking from the WC and it plays into qualification for other FIH events) on Sunday against South Korea with the prize of a QF place against Las Leonas. I didn't see the full match I finally had time to see the highlights last nigh (unfortunaely not up on the FIH youtube at time of posting). The Lionesses really upped their game against some poor opposition - indicated by Giselle Ainsley's opening goal scored from PCs into the top of the net - something ARG, AUS and NED (the three teams above us in the world rankings)
    routinely do. A nice FG from Tess Howard followed by another top corner PC from Giselle saw in the Lionesses leading 3 -0 at half time. In Q4 bit of a squeaky bum time after Lilly Owsley got a yellow (5 minutes on the naughty step) but Hannah Martin broke her 'duck' and, POM, Elly Rayer got one as well to see England romp home 5 - 0 winners. Beeb report here.

    Before the KOR match, I wouldn't have rated England's chances against Las Leonas at all but the showed some real skills in that game - should be good tonight as the Lionesses, if their game comes together, are in with a shot.
     
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  15. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Highlights of the KOR match now up (well 19hrs ago....)



    Bit of a 'senior moment' yesterday as last night's QF was between NED and BEL (fair play to the Red Panthers, the Oranjes had to work for their 2 - 1 victory). The Lionesses and Las Leonas meet tonight (for definite).
     
  16. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Maddie Hinch when she was top of her game:

     
  17. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

  18. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    The possession stats read in conjunction with the shots/circle penetration stats will be interesting as Maddie Hinch didn't have that much to do (apart from kick that 'one' fast winning goal away:cool::cool::cool::cool:). Some really 'odd' tactics on display with a very defensive performance from the Lionesses - the only really attacked/became more aggressive when they had a player green-carded and for all the skill/flair of Las Leonas carrying the ball: they didn't actually do that much with it? I assume that Succi (Agentina's GK) was their POM for her saves in Q4? Final Score ARG 1 : ENG 0.

    SF line ups for tomorrow: NED vs AUS and GER vs ARG.
     
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  19. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Bwood you know a lot more than I ever will about field hockey of which I'm a casual observer. Do you know why certain players like Lucina van der Heyde are still not playing for Las Leonas ?
     
  20. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    I can only imagine(and can I add this is just speculative guesswork) it's down to a combination of two things.
    1. You told me (and I can well imagine) that the administration of non-football sports in Argentina are really 'cliquey' - I can well imagine that in an 'elite' sport such as hockey the 'cliquiness' dial is turned up to 11.
    2. As van der Hyde is an ethnic German (and last reports were she was in the fatherland 'training' (she's still got over 100 caps representing Argentina at various levels) I can only imagine she's being 'groomed' by the DHB. At present the Dutch have the only professional women's league in Europe (the world?). I can only imagine Germany's eyeing that up especially with the growth (participation and ability) in the women's teams in Belgium and Spain (be interesting what France do).
     
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  21. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Highlights of the QF up now, before the match ARG were 3-10 with the bookie and the Lionesses 5-1 (that victory was very much down to the skills of Succi in goal):



    Just read something about the German Ladies Hockey League is ranked as the 2nd most competitive in the world...
     
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  22. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Holland the champions beating Argentina 3-1 in the final. Las Leonas won't be happy after having taken the FIH title. In the Pro League they tied the Oranje twice losing on penalty strokes both times.
     
  23. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    There have been 15 Womens WC and the Dutch have been in the final for 13 of them - you do the maths.

    Argentina may have taken the FIH ProLeague title but that competition was, essentially, a glorified series of training matches - the only team with something to play for was the US - as they finished bottom they have to 'win' the right to be in it in 2023.

    Las Leonas really don't have much to complain about - they only appeared to play in Q1 and became far too slow defensively (or more correctly lacking 'flair') after they lost their referral in Q2. There was only so much Succi could do (I think she should have been named player of the tournament not just GK of the tournament)... The third Dutch goal has to go down as one of the finest goals evurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:



    Overall it was quite a good showing there are now more teams at the top table (7 + the Oranjes, although I would say that India 'failed' in this competition). Something I did notice was that either the standard of the TV coverage was poor or, harking back to my original post (before the great 'fora reset') ,was that the elite level women's game was pretty much at the limits of televised coverage due to its speed it now appears to be much faster as the commentators frequently couldn't see what had happened in the 'D'. Lots of field goals (the Dutch PC they scored in the final was their first in the competition) and an average of 3.4 goals per match.

    The only sour note was the actions/behaviour of Die Danas after their defeat to the Ozzies in the match for the bronze medal (not shown in the highlights but they were endlessly complaining about not getting a decision in the final second of the match):

     
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  24. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Farking 'ell.

    Mens game bewteen the Kiwis and the Sweaties. Half time score NZ 1 - 5 SCO. Guess what happens next...
     
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  25. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

  26. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    In the Ghanaian game with the Lionesses (ENG 12 - 0 GHN) I noticed that their keeper was in very 'tatty' legguards and kickers. Her deflectors seemed newish but she was sporting, what I've only ever seen very junior GK's at our club*, a 'quality' helmet from that 'quality' purveyor/manufacturer of sporting goods SportsDirect Slazenger:
    Screenshot 2022-07-31 at 10-29-12 SLAZENGER HOCKEY ACADEMY GOALIE SET.png

    It looked like she got a newer helmet for the match against India where the Ghanaians only lost 5 - 0:



    As an aside, Charlie Brougham is a very good commentator.
     
  27. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

  28. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

  29. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

  30. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

  31. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

  32. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    To the surprise of no-one both the Lions and the Lionesses made it through to the semis. The Lionesses have just faced, and beaten a, very good, Kiwi side in an exciting penalty shoot-out - where the indestructible Hinch kept a clean sheet (she's that good) - I expect sales of Maddie's Magic stick will go through the roof.
     
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  33. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Beeb's finally posted the 'shuffles' at 09h31: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/commonwealth-games/57276952/page/2

    As an aside - Maddie's recently became a brand ambassador for Obo (the' go to' Kiwi supplier of GK gear) *but* this is the first time I've seen her use 'her' GK stick, especially designed for shootouts - it's very, very long at over 41" and I noticed that she's definitely wearing 'her' brand of padded shorts (consensus amongst the club GKs is that her armour's very good but very expensive).
     
  34. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    It's not quite the Haka, but:
    That feeling when you register your first ever win at Commonwealth Games
     
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  35. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Didn't see the Lions (and all the reports say it was the game of the tournament) last night but I did read with interest Simon Mason's comments that if a team at that level gets 13 PC's and no goals serious questions have to be asked...

    The cynic in me wants to say that it looked like this afternoon the Hockeyroo's and the Lionesses were wearing each other's kit! I don't think the Ozzie's early loss of their referral was a contributing factor as they were slow all over the pitch (Maddie Hinch had very little to do for over 3/4 of the match). If I was being very critical I would say that England's long passes were still poor but it was good to see our defence finally 'clicking'.

    As asides I was glad to see this match getting the BBC1 treatment (it's good to show that there's another 'Pride', official name for both England squads, of Lionesses) and as this was the first medal awarding ceremony I was quite chuffed to hear 'Jerusalem' (at the ProLeague they were still using that 'dirge*' for 'The Pride').

    *Also I can't find Milligan's version (which my Litho wife loved) of 'it' from his masterpiece "The Bed Sitting Room".
     

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