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Holland stun Germany in thriller

The 9,000 capacity Wagener Stadium was turned into a sea of orange as local hockey fans flocked to see The Netherlands take on Germany in an entertaining Champions Trophy tie.

It was a match worthy of the carnival atmosphere as the inspired host team fought tooth and nail for a deserved 3-2 victory over the Germans.

With the partisan crowd roaring them on, The Netherlands played in their attacking half and were rewarded within eight minutes.

Jacques Brinkman's shot rebounded off Christopher Reitz in the German goal but Teun de Nooijer shot at goal was stopped illegally by a German defender and Canadian umpire Putra immediately awarded a penalty stroke to the Netherlands.

Stephan Veen scored to the left of Reitz for the opening goal but it took the Germans only five minutes to equalize through Bjorn Michel's penalty corner.

Play switched back and forth in the second half until Jeroen Delmee put the Netherlands 2-1 ahead in the 42nd minute, converting the Netherlands first penalty corner with a drag-flick into the left corner of the backboards.

It took longer this time but Germany scored the equalizer through a 54th minute penalty stroke conversion by Christoph Bechmann after Christoph Eimer was brought down in the circle.

However, six minutes later the Dutch scored the winning goal and it was too late for the Germans to pull off another great escape.

Teun de Nooijer created the deciding goal, carrying to the right side of the circle, passing across goal to Remco van Wijk slightly to the left of the open goal.

Van Wijk casually backsticked the ball to goal but goalkeeper Christopher Reitz flew to his right to save the weak shot. Van Wijk collected the rebound and hit over Reitz to score in the 60th minute.

The Netherlands coach Maurits Hendriks said the result was expected.

"This is the result we played for because before the match we talked about how we like to play Germany," Hendriks said.

"They don't like our pressure and have problems with the dynamics of our midfield as they play man to man. It's not easy to play them but we like to play them," he said.

German coach Paul Lissek said the Dutch deserved the win but was disappointed his team could not steal a point and stay in the tournament.

Germany has 3 points from one win against Great Britain, 4-0 yesterday, and losses against Spain 1-2 and The Netherlands 2-3.

Korea upset Olympic opponents Spain

The victory not only gave Korea three vital points in the tournament but also a psychological edge as both teams face each other in their first Olympic match in September.

Hwang Jong-hyun was the Korean hero, deflecting a quickly taken free hit by Kim Jung-chul for the solitary goal in the 34th minute.

It was the first goal scored by a Korean in the tournament which also gave them their first win after having lost 0-1 to the Netherlands and 0-2 to Australia.

The victory was also their second successive victory over the Spaniards in the Champions Trophy after the 4-3 in last years Brisbane Champions Trophy.

Spain matched the fit Korean side for pace for the first 30 minutes but the only Asian side in the tournament, Korea slowed play in the last minutes of the first half, confusing their opponents.

The switch earned Korea a free hit on the backline a metre from the circle and Jung-chul took the hit quickly before Spain’s defence turned around and Jong-hyun did the rest.

Korea dictated the pace and tactics in the second half and Song Seung-tae had 2 scoring chances from long passes to him near the circle.

Into the last quarter, Korea changed tactics again, relying on the fast break by Seung-tae, Jong-hyun and Seo Jong-ho, but no goals came.

The ragged Spanish side were hoping for a break which came when Eduard Tubau picked up a Korean defensive mistake. However, after reaching the circle Tubau sent his backstick strike over goal.

Spanish coach Toni Forrellat admitted that the Korean tactics caught him by surprise. "It was a very different Korean team from the one we expected," said Spain's coach, Toni Forrellat.

"Spain's first match in the Sydney Olympics is against Korea and we will have to play differently to win," he said. "We dictated the pace and tactics today, it was our game," said Korean coach Kim Sang-ryul.

Six goal thriller as Great Britain hold Australia

Great Britain and Australia fought to a thrilling 3-3 draw in a men’s Champions Trophy match at the Wagener Stadium here today.

Troy Elder and Guy Fordham bagged a brace each for Australia and Great Britain in the first half which saw five goals being scored. Brent Livermore was the other goal scorer for Australia who led 3-2 at the break.

Despite Australia’s amazing 20 field shots at goal and 2 penalty corners, it was Great Britain – with only 9 shots at goal and 2 penalty corners - who had the first look at goal.

But the British attempts, including Russell Garcia’s drag-flick penalty corner lacked fire and conviction and the Australians rallied with four shots at goal in as many minutes before Elder struck in the 6th.

The Aussies piled on the pressure with Jay Stacy, Stephen Davies and Michael Brennan having their attempts saved or hitting the post. An 18th minute Calum Giles penalty corner conversion almost got Great Britain back on level terms but a splendid save by the Australian goalkeeper denied him.

The British appeared to have a mountain to climb when Elder bagged his second in the 22nd minute but Fordham came to the rescue with two well struck field goals in the 26th and 28th minutes after another Giles penalty corner had been foiled.

Giles’s drag flick was deflected down by Damon Diletti in Australia’s goal to Fordham who struck the rebound home for Great Britain’s first goal of the tournament. Fordham punished a lapse in the Australian defense for his second goal.

Livermore put Australia ahead 3-2 with an easy shot past Simon Mason in goal in the 31st minute but Great Britain came out stronger after the break.

Australia started to cruise in the last 5 minutes and were punished with the equaliser by Daniel Hall in the 64th minute.

"It was a fair scoreline with neither team deserving to lose," said Great Britain coach Barry Dancer. Australian coach Terry Walsh lamented his team's lack of conversion and considered it three points lost.

Courtsey: www.hockeyasia.com