England men’s and women’s teams crowned

13th July 2014

• Men: England defeat Ireland in a shootout to win title following 2-2 draw in normal time.
• Women: England beat South Africa 2-1 to renew their confidence going into the Commonwealth Games.
• Hockey’s new Olympic legacy stadium Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre proves a huge success as thousands enjoy international hockey in the London sunshine.
• Ashley Jackson and Alex Danson win Player of the Tournament awards.

 

Men’s Final

ENGLAND	2	2	IRELAND
Alastair Brogdon 6 (FG)	(Half-time 1-0)		Eugene Magee 36 (FG)
David Condon 49 (FG)	(Shoot-out 4-2)		Michael Darling 69 (FG)

 

England win 4-2 in shoot-out, further information in attached PDF.

England			Scotland
Attacker	Result		Attacker	Result
Ashley Jackson	X		Alan Sothern	X
Barry Middleton	X		Eugene Magee	O
Harry Martin	X		Michael Watt	O
Simon Mantell	X		Michael Robson	X
Alastair Brogdon	-		Shane O'Donoghue	-

 

This was the latest of several recent encounters between the two sides, and the first major final being held at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The home crowd were out in force showing their National pride in a scene reminiscent of the London 2012 Olympics.

Almost straight from the whistle Adam Dixon attacked the Ireland baseline before pushing the ball across goal for Alastair Brogdon to tuck away and give England an early lead.

This was the cue for the home team to start playing with some verve. In particular, Ashley Jackson and Captain Barry Middleton were showing skills that drew cheers from the enthusiastic crowd. With the midfield duo pulling the strings, England were able to fashion chances through Brogdon, Simon Mantell and Mark Gleghorne.

The 1-0 halftime score was a slender lead, and Ireland punished the home side early in the second half, when a blocked cross fell perfectly for Eugene Magee to smash past George Pinner and bring Ireland level.

In the 49th minute England took their advantage back when a wide attack found David Condon in space and he was able to fire a shot through a crowded circle past David Harte in the Ireland goal. However, the game was far from over and, as England's defence failed to clear an awkward ball, Michael Darling capitalised and scored the equaliser to draw the scores level on 2-2 at full time.

It would take a shoot-out to settle the result. England's experience came to the fore as George Pinner kept out Michael Watt then Magee, as opposed to Jackson, Middleton, Harry Martin and Mantell who were all on target, giving a relieved England crowd the result they came to see.

Investec London Cup Player of the Tournament and top goal-scorer Ashley Jackson said after the win: “It’s great to be on a new home ground, which hopefully we’ll be able to make into a fortress in the coming years. Thanks to all the spectators too, the support was fantastic and we hope to see everyone many more times here. It’s important to play games ahead of big tournaments and as the week went we couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

George Pinner said of playing in goal in a shootout: “It’s fun being in goal in a shootout, you can't lose really because the pressure’s on the other players to score, so I enjoy it.”

Nick Catlin did not play in the final following a thigh injury in yesterday’s game, further assessment will be made on the injury over the course of the following week before the teams head up to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games.

 

Women’s Final

ENGLAND	2	1	SOUTH AFRICA
Nicola White 3 (PC)	(Half-time 1-1 )		Jade Mayne 16 (FG)
Sam Quek 65 (PC)

 

England were hoping to repeat their earlier result against the southern hemisphere side having beaten them 2-1 in the pool stages, and they didn’t disappoint.

England started strongly winning the first penalty corner of the game within 2 minutes of push back, which lead to Nicola White opening the scoring – deflecting home a low drag flick from Sam Quek. England continued to create chances with the majority coming through Alex Danson, but these chances were on the break as South Africa applied a lot of attacking pressure on the English defence.

Their pressure paid off as Jade Mayne capitalised on another South Africa attack, striking the ball into the back of England’s net past goalkeeper Maddie Hinch.

Going into the second half, England again won the first penalty corner and came close through Susannah Townsend after she hit the post with a deflection of the captain’s sweep into the circle. England created several more chances, but were unable to breakthrough South Africa’s solid defence.

But Lily Owsley did score the winner with six minutes left on the clock, winning a penalty corner that was slipped left to Sam Quek who slotted it home to take the lead. In the last five minutes both teams had chances, with the most notable being England’s Sophie Bray hitting the cross bar in the 64th minute.

The result means England will go into the Commonwealth Games with renewed confidence following their under-performance at the recent World Cup in Holland, and it was fantastic to see the players taking so much time after the game to sign autographs for their young fans, who left delighted that they’d been able to meet their heroes.

Alex Danson, who also won the Player of the Tournament and Top Goalscorer awards, said after the game: “We have built a huge amount of confidence in this tournament to take into the Commonwealth Games, which of course is less than two weeks away.”

Lucy Wood, who was playing in her debut tournament added: “It’s been an incredible week. And it’s been a whirlwind for me in the last two weeks, going through the junior age groups and then suddenly getting called up for this really has been amazing.”

England Captain Kate Richardson-Walsh talked about the England's new legacy venue on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park: "I think the new stadium is fantastic. It's nice that the public can walk through the park and see where the hockey was played during the Olympics, and then they come here and the venue and seating are brilliant, it has a fan park, the changing rooms are amazing, the warm up pitch - I'm really proud that we've got this venue."

 

Men’s 3^rd/4^th place play-off

 

SOUTH AFRICA	3	0	SCOTLAND
Austin Smith 45, 64 (PC, PC)	(Half-time 0-0)
Daniel Sibbald 62 (FG)

 

Despite a closely-fought first half, Scotland suffered their second defeat to South Africa in as many days. South African captain Austin Smith converted two penalty corners to help his side take third place. 

The first half saw both sides searching for a crucial first goal of the game. The Scottish defence, led by goalkeeper Gavin Sommerville prevented any clear-cut South African scoring opportunities. Scotland won two penalty corners in the dying seconds of the half, but Erasmus Pieterse in South Africa’s goal saved well to keep the score line 0-0 going into the break.

On the 45th minute South Africa broke the deadlock, scoring off a well worked penalty corner; captain Austin Smith with the drag flick finish. With 12 minutes remaining in the game, South Africa managed to increase their lead to 2-0 with a superb goal from Daniel Sibbald, who had a one-on-one with the Scottish keeper and sent a lovely chip over Sommerville to bring the score to 2-0. A third goal followed just two minutes later with Smith scoring his second of the game from another penalty corner.

South African captain, Austin Smith said after the game; “I thought we played really well today, especially towards the end of second half. It’s been a tough start, we only arrived a day before the tournament so that made it difficult, obviously if you look at our first two results it wasn’t great.  We built a bit of momentum and we’ve improved on a few things and ideally that was the plan for the week here so we’ve had a great time here at the Investec London Cup and were really looking forward to the Commonwealth Games.”

 

Women’s 3^rd/4^th place play-off

SCOTLAND	3	2	WALES
Nikki Lloyd 12 (FG)	(Half-time 2-0)		Phoebe Richards 55 (FG)
Vikki  Bunce 31 (FG)			Emma Batten 70 (PC)
Ali Bell 46 (FG)

 

In their final game of the tournament, Scotland faced Wales in a battle for third place.  Wales started strongly, putting early pressure on Scotland’s defensive line.  It was Scotland, however, who were able to hold onto the ball for the majority of the first half, resulting in them gaining a two goal lead at half time.  The first was scored by Nikki LLoyd who was able to finish Emily Maguire's shot, and the second by Vikki Bunce who smashed it past the keeper to find the backboard.

The second half started in a similar manner to how the first half finished.  Scotland were working together nicely in defence, as well as exerting pressure up front. They eventually broke through the Welsh defence again as Ali Bell slotted the ball home in the 46^th minute to make it 3-0. 

The biggest reaction from the crowd came when Phoebe Richards unleashed a powerful shot in to the top right-hand corner, getting Wales on the score sheet. A penalty corner in the final minute allowed Emma Batten to score a second goal for Wales as they put in their best performance of the tournament, but it was Scotland who walked away with third place.

Scotland’s captain Linda Clement reflected on her team's performance: "It's been a good tournament. The aim for us was to concentrate on our overall performance game on game, but it's also given us some things to go away and look at. It's ideal preparation for the Commonwealth Games, so we can make a few tweaks between now and Glasgow."

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