The crowd at London’s Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre were treated to an astonishing FIH Pro League match on the evening of Thursday 6 June, as Germany men fought back from 2-0 and 3-2 to claim a remarkable 4-3 victory over Great Britain.
Trailing 3-2 going into the final quarter, world class strikes from Marco Miltkau and Timm Herzbruch gave Die Honamas a remarkable triumph away from home, a performance that has significantly impacted the FIH Pro League standings. The result sees Great Britain fall out of the top four down to sixth position, with Germany climbing to fifth ahead of four successive matches on home soil in Krefeld. A top four finish in the FIH Pro League comes with tickets to this month's FIH Pro League Grand Final in Amsterdam and also the FIH Olympic qualifiers, which take place later this year. To see the current men’s FIH Pro League standings, click here.
Both sides came into the clash at Lee Valley in buoyant mood following fine recent results, with Great Britain (FIH World Ranking: 7) having recorded an outstanding 3-1 away win against the Netherlands while Germany (WR:6) snatched a bonus point by winning a shoot-out against world champions Belgium in Antwerp.
Dieter Linnekogel had the first real opportunity of what would prove to be a mesmerising contest, firing into the pads of Great Britain goalkeeper George Pinner in the fourth minute. However, it was the home side who made the first mark on the score-board when Will Calnan - who limped off at the start of the second quarter with a suspected hamstring injury - scored his second goal in two matches, deflecting Henry Weir's pass between the head of Germany goalkeeper Tobias Walter and the crossbar.
Germany dominated the latter stages of the first period but it was the Britons who extended their lead thanks to Phil Roper, who squeezed his low penalty corner drag-flick between Walter and line defender Mathias Müller. However, Great Britain’s lead was cut in half when Johannes Grosse smashed home through a crowd of players before Fuchs almost levelled on the stroke of half time, hitting the post after the ingenuity of Timm Herzbruch caused chaos in the British circle.
The third quarter saw the action swinging frantically from one end of the field to the other. Florian Fuchs brutally punished GB for losing possession deep in their own territory, brilliantly guiding home a strike from Timur Oruz that was sailing wide of the target to level the scores at 2-2. Just as it seemed that Germany were about to take complete control, Sam Ward popped up to make it 3-3 with a cool reverse stick scoop after excellent work from the lively Harry Martin. Further goals were denied by crucial interventions from Walter and Ward, with the former making a solid save to deny a vicious strike from Alan Forsyth before the latter made a stunning goal-line clearance to deny Germany an equaliser ahead of the fourth quarter.
Germany were outstanding in the final period and scored two truly world class goals to win the game. Marco Miltkau hit an unbelievable strike into the top corner via the left post from the tightest of angles to tie the match at 3-3, with the winning goal arriving two minutes from time. Herzbruch was the scorer, collecting a pass into the circle on his reverse before unleashing a phenomenal backhand strike into the bottom left corner to give Germany a vital three points in their quest for a place in the Grand Final.
“Great Britain played really well in the first half and put a lot of pressure on us”, said Germany’s Florian Fuchs after the match. “It was a great performance to come back in the second half, and of course some great goals for the spectators. I think it was an amazing game to watch”.
Great Britain head coach Danny Kerry said: “Anyone watching for the first time would have thought ‘wow, what a sport’. That was proper game of hockey. We have to give credit to Germany, I think they deserved it, especially in the second half where we couldn’t keep possession for long enough and then they were lethal in their play.”
The race for the top four in the FIH Pro League continues on Friday 7th June with London’s Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre again the host venue as the women’s meeting between Great Britain and Germany. To see the complete match schedule, click here.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Pro League via the event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
FIH Pro League
6 June - London, England
Result: Men’s Match 39
Great Britain 3, Germany 4
Player of the Match: Marco Miltkau (GER)
Umpires: Marchin Grochal (POL), Coen van Bunge (NED) and Michelle Joubert (RSA - video)
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