The FIH Hockey Pro League returned to London’s Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre on Wednesday evening, with two pulsating matches generating a total of 13 goals as Great Britain men and Germany women emerged triumphant.
The action began in the men’s competition, where Great Britain came out on top in an eight-goal thriller against Germany. A 5-3 victory over the Die Honamas, who remain second in the FIH Hockey Pro League standings, was only the second win of Great Britain’s prolonged campaign.
The two teams traded seven goals in the first half, with Germany taking the lead inside a minute thanks to Moritz Röthlander before strikes from Liam Ansell, Brendan Creed and Phil Roper put the hosts 3-1 up. Germany’s Thies Prinz and Paul Doesch found the target either side of a fine finish from Chris Griffiths, with GB taking a 4-3 lead into half time. Harry Martin’s superb penalty corner deflection just two minutes after half time proved to the final goal in a game, with GB controlling the latter stages to seal all three points.
"It was good fun, good to get back out there", said Great Britain's Zach Wallace, who was named Player of the Match. "I know that Germany have a few guys that have stayed at home, having been playing in their various league finals, but they still have a load of guys who I grew up playing junior stuff with, all really good players. We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we managed to control it at the end, so it was good to come off the pitch with a win."
When asked what he made of his team's performance, Germany captain Tobias Hauke said: "It is hard to say, directly after the game. To be honest, if you concede five goals, I think it is clear that we have to be better in the defence tomorrow. We really tried to win today and were emotional from the first second, and directly scored. So, the beginning was quite good, but you could see it was the first time that we have had this [group of players] on the pitch. I think over the 60 minutes you saw that we probably needed this time for a better performance tomorrow."
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Germany’s women avenged the loss suffered by the men’s team by claiming a fully deserved triumph over reigning Olympic champions Great Britain. Germany – who have been in excellent form of late, but like their men arrived in London with numerous regulars missing – sit third in the FIH Hockey Pro League standings, with GB down in sixth position.
Die Danas were the dominant team for large periods of the contest, but twice found themselves trailing the hosts. GB struck the first blow when Sarah Robertson scored from close range against the run of play in the first quarter. However, Germany were soon level thanks to Jette Fleschütz, who buried a penalty corner rebound with lightning quick reactions.
Susannah Townsend restored GB’s lead with a looping effort in the opening minutes of the third period before Lena Micheel’s thumping drive tied the scores at 2-2 going into the final quarter. Germany piled on the pressure in the latter stages and got their reward, with Charlotte Stapenhorst's smart turn and shot deceiving GB goalkeeper Maddie Hinch and finding its way into the bottom left corner.
Germany's Pauline Heinz, who was named Player of the Match, said: "It was a really tough match, but we did it well, I think. In the end we were very aggressive, a bit more than GB. With this new team, with many players missing, we did very well."
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The FIH Hockey Pro League will continue on Thursday, with Great Britain and Germany facing each other once again at Lee Valley. More information can be found by clicking here.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Hockey Pro League via the Watch.Hockey app, event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
FIH Hockey Pro League
Wednesday 12 May 2021 – London (GBR)
Men
Great Britain 5, Germany 3 [Match 1 of 2]
Player of the Match: Zach Wallace (GBR)
Umpires: Martin Madden (SCO), Paul Walker (ENG) and Sarah Wilson (SCO - video)
Women
Great Britain 2, Germany 3 [Match 1 of 2]
Player of the Match: Pauline Heinz (GER)
Umpires: Sarah Wilson (SCO), Hannah Harrison (ENG) and Martin Madden (SCO - video)
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Image courtesy of Great Britain Hockey.
