OLYMPIC GAMES, 22 August 2008
| AUSTRALIA | 0 | (1) | - | 0 | (0) | GREAT BRITAIN |
| Madonna Blythe 29 (F) |
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| Hope Munro 68 (F) |
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A goal in each half was enough to secure the victory for the Aussies in a stop-start game which saw a goal apiece disallowed by the video umpire.
The first penalty corner of the game fell to Australia in the 11th minute, but the brilliant Beth Storry got low quickly to prevent a conversion. It took only three more minutes for Britain to win their first set piece, but Sarah Thomas could not quite get control of the rebound from Crista Cullen’s original shot before Rachel Imison in the Australian goal forced the ball out of play.
An early ball to Alex Danson in the 22nd minute saw her break into the circle, but she was caught by a defender before she had the opportunity for a shot.
Australia scored their first half goal in the 29th inute after a free hit outside the circle was deflected by Casey Eastham forcing a save from Storry, but the ball found its way back into danger zone where a waiting Madonna Blythe picked up a deflected ball, sweeping it into the back of the net.
With 21 seconds left on the clock in the first half, Britain had the opportunity to level the score, but they were denied at a penalty corner by an Australian defence quick off the line.
Three minutes after the break, the Brits won another penalty corner, but the routine which saw the ball injected by Anne Panter and then slipped left by Cullen back to Panter at the post was kicked to safety by Imison.
Then came the first intervention of the video umpire. A 45th minute penalty corner was taken by Panter out to Clewlow at the top of the circle. Clewlow fed the ball back into the circle where it was deflected off Panter to Thomas who thumped the ball home and Britain thought they had equalised. However, after a lengthy period, the video umpire ruled that the ball went in over the legal height for a first shot on goal and it was disallowed.
Both sides saw a penalty corner come and go in the 54th and 56th minutes before the video umpire was involved for the second time of the game. In the 62nd minute, Storry got down well to deny the Hockeyroos, but the loose ball was picked up by Hope Munro who chipped the ball over Storry into the back of the net. But after another lengthy period, the goal was ruled out as it was deemed to have hit Munro’s foot before she got her shot away.
However, she was to get onto the scoresheet with two minutes left on the clock after Britain had taken the decision to play the last three minutes without a goalkeeper with Cullen adopting a blue shirt and playing as kicking back in an attempt to throw everything left at the Aussies. Cullen was called upon quickly as she swung her stick at a free hit taken outside the circle to clear the ball off the line, but it was picked up by Casey Eastham who played it to Munro who took full advantage of the open goal to make it 2-0. Storry returned to the pitch for the last minute and a half.
Speaking afterwards, captain Kate Walsh said “I felt it was a tight game. When it stayed at 1-0 (after disallowed goal) I thought we were still in with the fight and we had the lion’s share of possession, but we couldn’t convert the chances.” When asked about her side’s overall performance at the Games, she commented “It was disappointing to come so close and not get to the semi-final, but we have to take some positives in coming into the tournament ranked as 9th and finishing in 6th place. It will be exciting over the next four years seeing some of our younger players come through.”
Head Coach Danny Kerry added to Walsh’s comments by saying “I am pleased with the way we tried to go about our game, although I felt we didn’t penetrate the circle enough which Australia did very well.”
When asked about the disallowed goal which would have levelled the score, he said “I couldn’t see from where I was sitting and it wasn’t a great piece of TV work (for the replays), but we had other chances to score so we can’t blame that.”
Looking ahead to London 2012, he continued “We have so many young players we will be trying to push through and I’m very excited at this. We have some excellent players in the U18 age group, but I’m not sure if they will be ready for 2012.”
Performance Director David Faulkner said “We are delighted with our top six finish and we must now set about moving on from this position.”
PREVIOUS OLYMPIC ENCOUNTERS
17 September 2000, Sydney, Great Britain 1 – 2 Australia
MATCH SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
| Sunday 10 August | |||||||||||
| 0830 | 0100 | W PB | Japan | 2 | (2) | - | 1 | (1) | New Zealand | Pitch A |
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| 1030 | 0330 | W PA | China | 3 | (2) | - | 0 | (0) | Spain | Pitch A |
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| 1800 | 1100 | W PA | Australia | 5 | (1) | - | 4 | (4) | Korea | Pitch B |
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| 1830 | 1130 | W PB | Argentina | 2 | (2) | - | 2 | (1) | USA | Pitch A |
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| 2030 | 1330 | W PA | Netherlands | 6 | (2) | - | 0 | (0) | South Africa | Pitch B |
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| 2100 | 1400 | W PB | Germany | 5 | (2) | - | 1 | (1) | Great Britain | Pitch A |
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| Monday 11 August |
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| 0830 | 0100 | M PA | Germany | 4 | (1) | - | 1 | (1) | China | Pitch A |
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| 1030 | 0330 | M PB | Pakistan | 2 | (0) | - | 4 | (3) | Great Britain | Pitch A |
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| 1800 | 1100 | M PA | Korea | 1 | (1) | - | 3 | (0) | New Zealand | Pitch B |
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| 1830 | 1130 | M PB | Australia | 6 | (3) | - | 1 | (0) | Canada | Pitch A |
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| 2030 | 1330 | M PA | Spain | 4 | (2) | - | 2 | (1) | Belgium | Pitch B |
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| 2100 | 1400 | M PB | Netherlands | 5 | (2) | - | 0 | (0) | South Africa | Pitch A |
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| Tuesday 12 August |
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| 0830 | 0100 | W PB | Argentina | 2 | (2) | - | 2 | (0) | Great Britain | Pitch A |
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| 1030 | 0330 | W PA | Australia | 6 | (1) | - | 1 | (0) | Spain | Pitch A |
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| 1800 | 1100 | W PB | USA | 1 | (0) | - | 1 | (1) | Japan | Pitch B |
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| 1830 | 1130 | W PA | China | 3 | (2) | - | 0 | (0) | South Africa | Pitch A | 2008-08-22
01. January
01. January
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