by Bruce Hamilton
NOTTINGHAM, England, July 16, 2010
Great Britain overwhelmed the Black Sticks Men 5-1 in the men's Four-Nations tournament on Friday (UK time) and play Japan for the bronze medal on Saturday (NZT 4.30am, Sunday July 18).
The Black Sticks Men lost 3-4 to Japan in the round robin match.
New Zealand played with black arm bands, honouring Joseph Bartholomew’s uncle who passed away and Joseph sat out the match.
Britain was clearly disorganised in the backfield in the first 20 minutes, failing to establish a shape to allow passing angles amongst the deep three defenders and into attack.
New Zealand’s high pressure exacerbated Britain’s lack of organisation however the Black Sticks Men could not convert the pressure into scoring chances.
Britain started to dominate the midfield after it found the solution to its positional play in defence, intercepting New Zealand’s passes forward and turning possession into attack.
Alistair Brogden set up Britain’s first goal, beating New Zealand’s defence out wide on the right to cross for Simon Mantell to jag a deflection past Stephen Graham in goal.
Britain’s speed to contested possession and repeated turnovers of possession by the Black Sticks Men allowed Britain to continue to dominate.
James Tindall converted Britain’s first penalty corner with a first-shot backstick which flew high into the net, collecting the slightest deflection from New Zealand’s defence.
Ashley Jackson made an unstoppable flick into the roof of the net to convert Britain’s second penalty corner and take Britain to the break at 3-0.
New Zealand took advantage of Jackson and midfielder Alistair Wilson on the penalty bench at the same time, five minutes into the second half, Marcus Child punishing Britain’s indiscretions with a soft goal - his second in two matches.
Jackson converted a penalty stroke following a penalty corner where the penalty corner injector, Richard Springham, flicked into the body of Andrew Hayward on the goal line after Tindall’s first shot rebounded.
James Tindall picked off a Black Sticks Men's pass at the top of the circle, ran to Stephen Graham and beat him with a turn to the right and a reverse hit into the empty net with five minutes on the clock.
Great Britain's Assistant Coach Bobby Crutchley gave credit to New Zealand’s high press.
“We had some shape issues in the first 20 minutes and the New Zealanders, who are good at pressing, exploited that and they got us on the back foot a bit as the New Zealand pressure is very effective,” Crutchley said.
Black Sticks Men's Coach Shane McLeod agreed New Zealand was out-played.
“I think England played very well today as they were much tougher in that they played a very physical game which we struggled to compete with, and I think there was some very good finishing from the Britain side,” McLeod said.
“There is probably a list of things that we can work on from our perspective,” McLeod added.
McLeod is exposing his young team to international competition.
“We have brought a group to Europe that has not had a lot of international experience and for those guys it is a learning experience,” McLeod added.
“For most of the group, the best they have played is top provincial hockey and we have nine players still under 21 in this squad, so there is a lot of learning for them and it is hard way to learn when they play Great Britain which is a team when it plays well is very difficult for the guys to compete with them,” McLeod said.
“Our senior squad members will join us for the next part of our trip and that will be a pretty strong side going into the Champions Trophy [commencing 31 July]” McLeod said.
The Four-nations tournament continues Saturday when Britain and Germany play for first place and Japan play New Zealand for third place.
