Pro League 2024 (London)
02.06.2024
Written by; Tao MacLeod
Day 2
Fixtures & Results
Germany 7 – 0 Ireland (Men)
Great Britain 3 – 1 India (Men)
Great Britain 3 – 2 India (Women)
Germany 2 – 1 USA (Women)
What Happened Today
Germany 7 – 0 Ireland (Men)
The World Champions were in the opening match again, this time playing against Ireland in what is their first FIH Pro League campaign. Half Court Press Podcast interviewee Jean Danneberg started in goal for Die Honamas. The Irish came out with an assertive man to man set up and moved the ball into high areas. However the Germans pegged them back winning a few of short corners in the first quarter. It was the Central Europeans who finally broke the deadlock in the 17th minute after Elian Mazkour poached a rebound. They added two more in quick succession just before half time. On both occasions it was the pass that made the goal, showing a bit more incision than the day before. After a second Marco Miltkau goal, Ireland tried to assert themselves again with a higher press. The wide players started to carry the ball a bit more, there was even a flash across the opposition circle. However, after a defender played a pass across the face of his own goal Timm Herzbruch made a diving stretch to score his team’s fifth. Further goals for Germany turned it into a bit of a lop sided affair. Unfortunately Ireland have now lost both of their games in London so far quite heavily.
Great Britain 3 – 1 India (Men)
Nick Bandurak opened the scoring for Britain within a few minutes. It was a lovely team goal. One of the half backs did well to receive a pass from his team mate, whilst under pressure from three Indians. He kept the move alive, sending the ball to the left. It was worked well up the wing, before finding the forward at the back post. He got a second from the top of the circle to double the lead. Both teams played the first half with a vim and a verve that was exciting to watch. They went at each other with equal amounts of speed and directness. James Mazarelo made several good saves throughout the match, with several agile stops that came off of his toe. The one time that he actually got beaten was an absolute ripper of a reverse from Abishek. There is a bounce and a hop to British goalkeepers, I wonder if this is the product of intentional coaching. During a series of attacking short corner rewards in the second half, Phil Roper took a deflection to the face, which meant that he had to go off. Will Calnan added a third, before the Indians had a strong spell, where they even hit the post from a set piece. The game ended three goals to one for the hosts.
Great Britain 3 – 2 India (Women)
A weaving run into the circle from Ellie Rayer in the fifth minute saw the award of a penalty stroke after the umpire spotted a foul on the English forward. The Indians immediately asked to send the decision upstairs, but it was over turned for a waste of a referral. Charlotte Watson duly converted from the spot, then moments later got another in open play. The home team gained a lot of possession in the first period, which put the Asians under the cosh somewhat. When the Indians did press it wasn’t as a cohesive unit, which left spaces around their defensive 25 yard line. Team GB went into the half time break in the lead.
In the third quarter Britain moved the ball around and attacked the wide spaces, however, they were pegged back by a well taken field goal scored by Navneet Kaur in the 34th minute. The tourists came out of the traps in the second half rather more assertive and took the game to their hosts. They won several short corners, even having one shot deflected on to and over the crossbar. With a little over four and a half minutes to go of the match, the Indians got an equaliser at the back post, after an attack down the left. They deserved it for the turn around in their performance in the second half. However, they couldn’t hold on to this comeback, as less than a minute later Izzy Petter scored a third. At this point the ladies in blue took off their goalie Savita and Petter was shown a card, which provided the Asian team a power play. However they couldn’t take advantage of this and Britain ran out winners.
Germany 2 – 1 USA (Women)
In the last game of the day Beth Yeager gave her team a surprise lead against a very good German team, with a short corner in the eight minute. In order to protect their lead, the Americans looked to sit deep and hit the Europeans on the counter attack. Kealsie Bing in the American goal had to make a couple of saves in order to help her side out. At half time the score remained one nil the USA. As the game went along the frustrations of Die Danas started to be articulated on the sidelines. I don’t speak much German, but you don’t have to be a great linguist to have a sense of what was being said by the players as they came off the pitch, or by the coach on the sidelines.
The Yanks held firm in the third quarter, even with a couple of green cards shown to them. On more than one occasion I spotted the entire team in, or around their defensive 25 metre zone. With less than a minute left of the third period, they thought that they got a second from a penalty corner. However it was turned over on referral. In the final period the Germans looked to win corners of their own in order to get past the low block. It was through a second phase play after one of these that they finally equalised with a back post finish from Lisa Nolte. The Americans lost their referral asking for an obstruction in the build up. Sara Strauss then broke American hearts with a field goal in the 51st minute. Without a lead to protect the Americans looked to press the Europeans a bit more and started to play the game on the front foot. They got a power play in the final few minutes after Stoffelsma was shown a yellow card. However, with less than a minute to go, the USA were unable to convert their short corner routine and lost in a hard fought game.
Star Player
I’m a fan of the Indian defender Jarmanpreet Singh, who wears shirt number four for his country. He’s a strong full back, who can play it as well. Captain Harmanpreet Singh is another who’s strong across that area pitch. The Scottish lads who play for GB are good at the stick and ball game. I’ve been a fan of Lee Morton for a while, but Struan Walker impressed me today with his positional awareness and passing abilities. The British team captain Jack Waller also had a very strong game today, as did Nick Bandurak with his brace of goals. Although the Star Player of the day, I felt, was Will Calnan. Aside from the goal he scored, which was rather well taken, his link up play was exceptional. He is an ambitious hockey player when going forward, who gets involved with the wider game.
Goal of the Day
A marvellous solo effort from Indian ladies player Navneet Kaur saw her team get back in to contention early in that game’s second half. She picked the ball up deep into the British half, drove forward over the 25 yard line, skipped past a defender as she entered the circle and drove it past the goalkeeper, a wonderful goal.
Moment of the Day
During the Great Britain versus India match and long high ball along the sideline accidentally went into the crowd. Fortunately it was caught by an astute spectator in the style of a baseball fan catching a home run.
Thought of the Day
The hockey crowds at Lee Valley are a bit tame. If something good happens then there might be a polite round of applause. If there’s an element of excitement then perhaps we might hear a gasp, or an ohh ahh. However, there’s no chanting, fans don’t have a sing song and there is very little banter. I think that this stems from an overt promotional focus on international hockey, at the expense of a culture being developed for domestic leagues and club teams. If we compare hockey to football in Britain, where local teams have the upper hand, then we can see a difference in the noise produced by the supporters in the stadia. It doesn’t help that matches that didn’t involve Great Britain have seen low numbers in attendance, however this is a hockey wide issue with other National Governing Bodies having similar issues hosting International events. Hopefully we can see an improvement in atmosphere for the rest of the Pro League, whilst it’s in London.
