The Hindu : Poles stand tall against the Brits

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2004

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Poles stand tall against the Brits

By S. Thyagarajan

Netherlands 5 South Africa 1

New Zealand 1 Malaysia 0

Poland 2 Britain 1

MADRID, MARCH 2. Amidst the fret and fever of speculation, the quest for an Olympic berth began on a sunny afternoon even as the mercury kept hovering around the single digit figure in the sylvan surroundings of the Club de Campa. It was not easy to evaluate the hockey on view qualitatively as the players were lethargic and struggled to find their rhythm.

However, the Poles, relishing the weather and making good the chances they created, upset the calculations of Great Britain. In what can be termed an upset, the Poles, rated 17 in the world, beat a team ranked eighth by a 2-1 margin.

Tomasz Choczaj and Tomasz Dutkiewicz scored for Poland while Danny Hall scored for Great Britain.

Even the seasoned Dutchmen were not in great shape. The defending champion won comfortably enough as reflected by the margin, but their approach work left a lot to be desired. The Olympic champion had to go through the mortification of allowing a goal in less than a minute to the South Africans.

Though no match to their famed rivals in matters of style and skill, the South Africans displayed more vigour and verve in their workouts, at least in the first half to share the honours.

Goalkeeper Guus Vogels was simply stunned by Emile Smith's deflection off a free hit by Lian Evans even before a first minute had passed. Flabbergasted by the development, the Dutch were anything but constructive even after their star Taeke Takema scored the equaliser off a penalty corner.

Skipper Delmee worked hard in the midfield along with Piet Geeries to create a few openings but the frontline, including the dangerous striker Teun di Nooijer, remained ineffective. In the second half, Netherlands progressively gained the edge, thanks to better co-ordination.

A field goal by Rob Derick hoisted the lead for the Dutch and the team picked up the threads, scoring through Bram Lomans, Floris Evers and Karel Klaver.

Coach Terry Walsh conceded that the team lacked penetration in the first half, but the tactical move of playing Nooijer on the left of the midfield paid off.

The Malaysians had a bad start against the Kiwis, an outcome that may put the former in considerable stress in the next set of matches. The Kiwis, prompted well from the midfield by Wayne McIndoe, held on gamely to the early goal by Hayden Shaw from a penalty corner. This goal determined the verdict eventually.

The positive start for the Kiwis was due to the tenacious work under the bar by Paul Woolford who effected quite a few saves. Still the Malaysians, who enjoyed a lot of territorial advantage, fumbled at the end, frittering away goalworthy chances. Abu Ismail flunked an easy opening when Chua Boot passed not long after the Kiwis had struck. In short, it was a match Paul Woolford won for the New Zealanders.

Wednesday's matches: Japan v Poland (6-30 p.m., IST); Spain v South African (8-30 p.m.); Netherlands v Great Britain (10-30 p.m.).

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