Scotland delighted with bronze in NZ

Scotland provided the shock of the BDO World Cup qualifier at Invercargill this weekend when they held China to a 2-2 draw in normal time, then whipped them 5-3 in the resulting penalty shoot-out, to claim third place and the bronze medal.

In confident style the Scots elected to go first in the shoot-out and Mark Ralph (Glynhill Hotel Kelburne), Stephen Dick (Inverleith) with a slight miscue, Vishal Marwaha (Western Wildccats), Michael Christie (Glynhill Hotel Kelburne) and finally Ross Stott (Glynhill Hotel Kelburne) all scored while keeper Allan Dick (Surbiton) easily saved the third effort of the Chinese. Stott`s winning strike sparked off a spontaneous pitch invasion by the entire Scottish squad which ended in a giant huddle in the middle of the pitch.

It was also a personal triumph for interim coach Russell Garcia, he took a bunch of raw youngsters to a major world event, they were seeded to finish fifth and they came away with a bronze medal. Is this the opening of the Garcia renaissance for Scottish Hockey?

In heavy wind and rain, perhaps conditions more suited to the Scots, Garcia`s charges never allowed the Chinese to settle into any sort of rhythm. Midway through the half Christie and Dick opened up the Chinese defence and the Inverleith striker finished off the move with a first time shot for his fourth goal of the tournament.

But within two minutes the Asians were back level when Yixian Liu tucked in a rebound after keeper Allan Dick had saved the initial effort.

The Scots were undaunted and regained the lead four minutes later when Dick intercepted a Chinese pass, he released the ball to Kenny Bain (Glynhill Hotel Kelburne) who volleyed the ball past the keeper.

Back came the Chinese and Fenghui Lu deflected the ball high into the net after a penalty corner variation. Dick then became the busier keeper as the Asians pressed for the winner but at the other end Bain was unlucky not to score with a neat deflection, then a Mark Ralph drag flick was saved at a set piece. Ralph had a final chance to win the game in normal time but his last minute penalty corner was again foiled by the Chinese defence.

Extra time came and went with no further goals although Christie and Bain did have chances to settle the issue, but the Scots went on to do so in the following penalty shoot-out.

Scottish Hockey Performance Manager Callum McLeod said: “It was a fantastic result to finish ahead of China who are ranked eleven places above us. Although this was an excellent team achievement, Ross Stott was consistently excellent throughout the tournament and it was fitting that he should score the final penalty to win the bronze medal.”

The Scottish management can now look forward to the publication of the new international rankings to see how far the side have moved up from the present 24th place and third spot in such a prestigious world event must surely provide the coach with a perfect springboard for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi next year..

Ireland, Belgium & Argentina stay unbeaten at the last 2010 World Cup Qualifier

Chile 1 v 4 Ireland HT 1-0 | 2009-11-15 11:05
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Belgium 9 v 0 Czech Republic HT 3-0 | 2009-11-15 13:05
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USA 1 v 6 Argentina HT 0-4 | 2009-11-15 15:05
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On the second day or play at the BDO Hockey World Cup Qualifier in Argentina, Ireland wrestled down Chile, Belgium dispatched the Czech Republic, and Argentina booked a win against the USA. All day one winners thus booked their second consecutive victory, thereby neatly splitting the table in two.

The day started off with the encounter between Chile and Ireland. As yesterday, Chile went into the game overflowing with their can-do attitude, and they were rewarded midway through the first half with a goal from Thomas Kannegiesser. Subsequently, an open battle with few chances on either side ensued.

Holding on to their lead unil the end of the first half, Chile received the first blow to their plans for points when Alan Sothern scored a field goal shortly after the return from the break. Building on his euqalizer, the Red Devils pulled ahead with ten minutes to go at the hands of John Jermyn, while Alan Sothern added two goals in the last three minutes of the match to complete his second half hattrick and establish the 4:1 end result - a disappointing scoreline for Chile who as on day one have put down a solid effort and pulled ahead with an early goal only to see the tables turned on them for a 1:4 defeat.

Report Courtesy of World Hockey. For further deatils visit World Hockey

Ireland make great start in Argentina

Belgium 4 v 1 Chile HT 2-1 | 2009-11-14 11:05
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Ireland 6 v 1 USA HT 5-0 | 2009-11-14 13:05
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Argentina 1 v 0 Czech Republic 2009-11-14 15:05
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Ireland and the USA. With are both in the middle of rebuilding their national teams, it was not clear which way the game was going to lean, but Ireland put their stamp on the proceedings early, swiftly, and unequivocally. A trio of goals from Michael Watt and a Stephen Butler penalty corner conversion saw the boys in green up by four goals after less than twenty minutes, and when Butler added his second goal of the day in the final seconds of the first half, it seemed like a two-digit disaster was on the cards for the US team.

After the break however, the Americans returned a changed side, suddenly putting up a fight they had never managed in the first half. Ireland struggled with the change of pace, conceding the USA's consolation goal to Nate Coolidge in the 53rd minute, but having to pick the ball out of their net jolted the Irish awake again, and they immediately restored the five goal lead with a goal from Mitch Darling.

The rest of the match rolled past without much worthy of mention - the game was hard fought, but neither team was able to gain any significant advantage or create much danger. The game thus ended 6-1 for Ireland, making them the highest scoring team in the competition and the day 1 table leader.

Report Courtesy of World Hockey

New Zealand win 2010 World Cup Qualifier

New Zealand 2 v 1 Malaysia HT 0-1 | 2009-11-15 15:05
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The Black Sticks Men capped off a fantastic weekend for New Zealand sport becoming the second team in two days to qualify for a World Cup.

New Zealand came from behind to beat Malaysia 2-1 today in freezing Invercargill conditions, in the final of the BDO World Cup Qualifier.

The Black Sticks were down 1-0 with 23 minutes to play and looked well and truly shaken by the gutsy Malaysians, who had scored from a penalty corner in the 18th minute.

The Malaysians defended very well, particularly at the top of the circle, dispossessing the New Zealand strike force which had run rampant up until the final scoring 28 goals in five games.

Break through player Andy Hayward, scored both of the New Zealand goals, from penalty corner drag flicks in the 57th and 60th minute.

Black Sticks Men’s Coach Shane McLeod said after the match his feeling was mainly one of relief: “A final is tough when there is such a prize at stake,” he said. “I don’t think we played overly well. We haven’t been challenged through the tournament and Malaysia could taste they had an opportunity.”

McLeod played tribute to Hayward’s efforts: “We have put a lot of work into Andy and I am so pleased for him. When you flick well often your hockey goes the same way.”

The World Cup will be held in New Delhi, India, next Febuary.

Austria 3 v 2 Wales HT 0-2 | 2009-11-15 10:35
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Scotland 2 v 2 China HT 1-1 | Flicks 5-3 | 2009-11-15 12:35
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Scorers

New Zealand 2 (Andy Hayward 2) Malaysia 1 (Razie Abd Rahim) H:T 1-0 Malaysia

Scotland 5 (Stephen Dick, Kenneth Bain) China 3 (Yixian Liu, Fengui Lu) (penalty strokes extra time, after score tied 2-2 full time. )

Austria 3 (Georg Jelinek 2, Michael Korper) Wales 2 (Benjamin Croxall, Matthew Ruxton) H:T 2-0 Wales

Final placings

1st New Zealand

2nd Malaysia

3rd Scotland

4th China

5th : Austria

6th : Wales

Win SealSkinz Sports Kit - in partnership with NE14HOCKEY

NE14HOCKEY has teamed up with SealSkinz Sports to give you 10 chances to win their waterproof socks or gloves in a series of 10 spot the ball compeitions, the first of which started this morning.

Week 1 - SealSkinz Sports - Spot the Ball Compeition

The next 4 competitions will start on the next 4 Saturdays with each competition running for a limited time (tbc). This will take us up to the last set of League games before the Christmas/indoor break.

The final 5 compeitions will start in the new year with the commencement of the restart of the hockey leagues in mid January.

For more details about the competitions please visit our dedicated mini-site.

To learn more about SealSkinz Sports please visit their website.

All photographs are courtesy of John Coxon

New Zealand walk into World Cup 2010 Qualifier Final

Malaysia 3 v 2 Scotland HT 3-0 | 2009-11-12 14:00
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Austria 2 v 0 Wales HT 1-0 | 2009-11-12 16:00
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China 1 v 6 New Zealand HT 0-3 | 2009-11-12 18:00
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The Black Sticks are through to the final of the BDO Men’s World Cup Qualifier in Invercargill, with a game in hand, after downing China 6-1 tonight.

With 12 points from four victories, New Zealand will meet either China (nine points after today) or Malaysia who now have seven points after beating Scotland.

New Zealand ran rampant over the Chinese and were three goals up by half time.

Andy Hayward scored the first two from drag flicks, taking his conversion rate to five from eight attempts. Phil Burrows scored the third on the right post, converting a beautiful drive from the far left from Ryan Archibald.

In the second half, some good work in the circle by Nick Wilson set up Simon Child for his first goal after 11 minutes. Child fired home a well struck shot from the top of the circle for his second six minutes later and Hayden Shaw drove in a furiously paced drag flick in the 56th minute to take the final tally to six. China scored a consolation goal from a penalty corner with a minute to play, through Dong Yang.

Black Sticks Coach Shane McLeod said after the game he was pleased his side had earned the right not to have to fight for the second place in the final.

“We will have to be careful not to lose our momentum and will make sure we set a good platform for the final,” he said. “We have taken our opportunities well. It is difficult for teams to handle when you have more than one key player. We have a good spread of dangerous players which has worked for us.”

Malaysia just saw off a strong second half performance by Scotland to take out the match 3-2. The Malaysians allowed the Scottish to climb into the game in the second half by turning over too much possession. The Scottish scored twice, but were unable to find the equaliser. The win kept Malaysia in hunt for the final. Austria notched up their first win, beating Wales 2-0.

Scorers

Malaysia 3 (Faizal Saari 2, Amin Rahim) Scotland (Stephen Dick, Kenneth Bain) 2 H:T 3-0.
Austria 2 (Michael Korper, Benjamin Stanzl) Wales 0 H:T 1-0
New Zealand 6 (Andy Hayward 2, Simon Child 2, Hayden Shaw, Phil Burrows) China 1 (Dong Yang) H:T 3-0

Ireland ready for Argentina

Ireland's Senior Men depart today for Argentina in order to acclimatise in preparation for their World Cup Qualifier which commences on Sunday 14th November in Quilmes, Argentina.

The boy's in green finalised their match preparation in two uncapped matches against England, resulting in a 2-4 loss and 4-4 draw, despite impressive performances against the European Champions Ireland have had to deal with the news that Munster's David Hobbs is unavailable for the tournament due to an ongoing injury. Commenting on the news Coach Paul Revington said "We were dealt a body blow this week as David Hobbs and Joe Brennan have been ruled out of the World Cup Qualifier as a result of an inability to recover from injury and regain fitness before departure to Argentina today. David has been a great strength to the Irish Team over several years and carries a great deal of experience through attending a World Cup Qualifier in China in 2006 and an Olympic Qualifier in New Zealand in 2008."

"The Team will miss David's power in midfield and the experience he brings to the Team, and will also miss the presence and quality that Joe Brennan has added to our Team throughout 2009. The Squad has however developed a good degree of depth in strength over the past few months and weare very fortunate to announce David Ames as the replacement for David Hobbs and Peter Caruth as the replacement for Joe Brennan. David Ames returned to the squad over the Summer (Celtic Cup) after a tough start to 2009 filled with injury and he has progressively built up the form that makes him such an exciting prospect for Irish Hockey. Ames brings a terrific skill set, a strong physical engine, a penalty corner injection and a youthful energy that will benefit the Ireland Team immensely inArgentina. Peter Caruth has improved consistently throughout 2009 and will be a player going to Argentina with form and confidence on his side."

When asked about the final stages of the squad's preparation Revington commented "The games against England mid week were of great benefit to the players attending the WCQ in Argentina as well as for our efforts to improve the depth of the Irish Squad in general. England offered an extremely high tempo game opportunity to all players and this will have massive benefit for our Team traveling to Argentina. It was also great to have the full team together in Banbridge on Saturday evening and I know the guys are all excited to be together again and continue the friendship and locker room spirit that has been the foundation for their performances in 2009."

Ireland (18) kick off their campaign against the world number 19's when they play USA on day one, Saturday 14th November. With less than 24 hours rest Ireland will face Chile ranked 27th after which they will have earned their day's rest before clashing with the top ranked seed in this tournament Belgium (9th) on Tuesday 17th in what will no doubt be a tough encounter. Ireland then take on the Czech Republic (25th) before closing out the pool stages against hosts Argentina (10th) on Saturday 21st November.

Only the champion of this tournament will secure the coveted World Cup place.