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News 06 July 2014

All the news for Sunday 6 July 2014


England Men beaten by Ireland


Ashley Jackson, by Ady Kerry

Leading at half time, England Men conceded two second half goals and lost out 1-2 to hosts Ireland in a hard-fought and physical second test match on Dublin on Saturday.

The England coaching team were keen to try out a number of different formations, but Ireland defended strongly and, buoyed by their performance in Friday night’s performance as well as a vociferous crowd, managed to take the win.

Head Coach Bobby Crutchley said: “We’re obviously disappointed with the result, but this has been a great opportunity to try out a number of different options ahead of the Investec London Cup and the Commonwealth Games.

“We will learn plenty from our second half performance today, that I am sure that will benefit us in the long term.”

A trademark Ashley Jackson goal from a penalty corner on 31 minutes, the ball being flicked low into the goal after being injected by Iain Lewers, and England continued to play well throughout the first half.

Just six minutes into the second half Ireland pulled level. The ball was dribbled along the base line and lifted in towards Lain Lewers. Everybody stopped expecting a whistle, but it didn’t come and Michael Watt pounced to smash home.

The match remained level until the 67th minute, when Ireland won a penalty corner which was slipped in and deflected home by Watt again.

England took off goalkeeper George Pinner in place of a kicking back for the final three minutes, but despite dominating possession they couldn’t find a way back in to the game.

England Hockey Board Media release



Match 2: Ireland 2 - 1 England

Ireland put in an impressive performance today against the World number 5’s to secure a 2-1 victory over England in front of a packed stadium in UCD.

The match kicked off today with high tempo from both teams looking to get an early lead. Ireland secured their first penalty corner when Conor Harte displayed his overhead talent setting up Mikie Watt but the ensuing PC was charged down by Henry Weir and two further PC’s ensued but Shane O’Donoghue and Conor Harte’s attempts were both denied.

England’s best chance came in the 15th minute when Barry Middleton & Mark Gleghorne combined but David Harte in goals snuffed out the chance. A minute later Mark Gleghorne had space for a shot on goal but his strike went off target.  England broke the deadlock in the 31st minute Ashley Jackson dragging low to put his side 1-0 before half time.

Ireland opened with pace after the break scoring in the 41st minute Shane O’Donoghue with the long corner run and Mikie Watt on hand to smash home from close range to make it 1-1. Three minutes later Maurice Elliott almost made it two after a great ball in from Conor Harte but the chance went wide.

The next couple of minutes saw England with chances including a penalty corner chance but Maurice Elliott was out quickly to deflect away and the score remained one a piece. Ireland’s strikers Mikie Watt and Timmy Cockram combined with some lovely play to put Ireland back in attacking mode but it wasn’t until three minutes from the end of time when Ireland scored the winning goal thanks to Mikie Watt converting from a penalty corner switch to Conor Harte who deflects from the P spot making it Ireland 2 England 1 – the icing on the cake being it was Mikie Watt’s 50th international goal

Commenting after the match Coach Ned Fulton said “It was an improvement on yesterday’s game we had a good start. The belief in the group was strong and we were able to execute the chances we created as well as defending well. I was very proud of the performance, but we still have work to do and we look forward to next week.”

Ireland play in the Investec London Cup starting this Wednesday at the Olympic Park  in London – the team is expected to be announced on Monday.

IRELAND 2 (0) Mikie Watt 41m op; 67m pc
ENGLAND 1 (1) Ashley Jackson 31m pc

Starting XI IRELAND: David Harte; John Jackson; Ronan Gormley; Michael Watt; Kirk Shimmins; Mitch Darling; Timmy Cockram; Michael Robson; Paul Gleghorne; Conor Harte; Shane O’Donoghue

Reserves; Johnny Bell; Maurice Elliott; Peter Caruth; Stephen Cole; Bruce McCandless; Drew Carlisle David Fitzgerald

Starting XI ENGLAND: George Pinner; Oliver Willars; Henry Weir; Ashley Jackson; Harry Martin; Alistair Brogdon; Mark Gleghorne; Barry Middleton; Iain Lewers; Nick Catlin; Dan Fox;

Reserves: Andrew Bull; Simon Mantell; Phil Roper; Adam Dixon; Patrick Smith; David Condon; Tom Carson.

Irish Hockey Association media release



Indian hockey team making 100 per cent improvement: Oltmans

NEW DELHI: India might have finished a disappointing ninth in the recent Hockey World Cup, but High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans today sought to present the performance of the national team in a positive light, saying the country showed "100 per cent improvement" and better results will follow "very soon".

Oltmans said even though the end result in the World Cup was not satisfactory, Indian hockey was "clearly moving forward".

"We had clear and good debrief of the World Cup in the last two days. We discussed the insights into the way we prepared the team for the World Cup and shared future ideas to ensure we keep on improving," he said today.

"We showed 100 per cent improvement. We showed lot of improvement in terms of structure, mental and physical abilities and results will come very soon. But it is difficult to say how near it is," Oltmans said.

He was speaking to reporters at the end of two-day meeting of Hockey India's 10-member Team, Coaching and High Performance Evaluation Committee, which assembled here to evaluate the performance of Indian men's hockey team in the World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands.

"Outcome was not what we expected we are clearly moving forward. We are in a transition phase. We are in the middle of a process and it will take some time to witness a spike in our performance. In this process we can't expect performance at the highest level," he said.

Oltmans said it will take India at least six years to return among the elite league of world hockey and has set his sights on 2018 World Cup at home.

"When I joined I said it will take five plus years for India to compete with the top teams of the world. One year has already passed and by the time of next World Cup in 2018, we should expect a medal in our necks," the Dutch legend said.

The Times of India



India will be among best in 5 years: Oltmans

Rohan Puri

NEW DELHI: India might have finished a disappointing ninth in last month's World Cup but Hockey India's high performance director, Roelant Oltmans, said on Saturday that hockey was moving forward and the team needed another five years to be among the best in the world.

"We are in the middle of a process. It's a transition phase and the team showed a lot of improvement during the World Cup in terms of structure and physical conditioning. The players performed as a team," Oltmans said on Saturday. "We are moving forward. We jumped from 12th position in the 2012 Olympics to ninth place in this World Cup. It will take at least five years to reach where we would like to be," Oltmans said, adding: "I am sure we will continue to make progress."

Chief coach Terry Walsh agreed with Oltmans and said that the team was hoping for a top four finish in this month's Glasgow CWG. "Our aim is to bring the Indian team to the top six in the world and then into the top four. As far as the CWG is concerned, we are aiming for a final-four finish."

Oltmans and Walsh were interacting with the media after a meeting of the 10-member Team, Coaching and High Performance Evaluation Committee, which analysed India's performance at the World Cup and discussed ways for improvement.

Former players Ajit Pal Singh, Harbinder Singh, Walsh and Oltmans were part of the committee.

The Times of India



Too much big talk, result zero

Sabi Hussain

New Delhi - The 11-member committee formed to evaluate India’s performance in the hockey World Cup at The Hague, Netherlands, was supposed to do some serious introspection. The committee, named as ‘Team, Coaching and High Performance Evaluation Committee’ consisted of nine former players, a representative from the SAI besides HI secretary general Narinder Batra as the chairman.

The formation of the committee had been necessitated after India finished a disappointing ninth in the World Cup. Batra had wasted no time in announcing the committee, that too when India were to take on South Korea in the play-off for 9th position. Such was the urgency to evaluate India’s below-par show that Batra had even shot off a letter to the coaching staff in The Hague that “we should only be thankful to goalkeeper Sreejesh that we did not finish at the bottom of the pool to play for 11th and 12th positions.”

The tone and tenor of the letter had suggested that some drastic changes were on the anvil. But, the outcome of the meeting proved nothing more than a damp squib and the tall claims fizzled out in the end.

Committee members — Harbinder Singh, Ajit Pal Singh — chief coach Terry Walsh and High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans told media persons nothing new after two days of hectic discussions behind closed doors. “We did a thorough postmortem of the World Cup performance. We are getting a little impatient with the performance but there is no quick solution,” Ajit Pal said. “We analyzed the positives along with the negatives. The penalty-corner conversion is an area of concern and it has been taken into consideration. We will be working on it for the upcoming tournaments. The outcome was not what we had hoped but we have to show some patience.”

What Ajit Pal did not tell was how much patience?

Oltmans, though, had a reply for it, what was not clear from his answer was whether he would be there for that long to witness the transition. “We are in the middle of a transition phase. We are striving to reach the highest level but the process of change will take at least 5 years. It will take time to witness a spike in our performance,” he said.

Coach Walsh said, “It has been a productive two days with a lot of information flowing and we are now better aware of what everyone needs to do in the future.”

The Tribune



Will hockey in Gujarat flourish?

Shweta Singh

AHMEDABAD: For a state like Gujarat which has always kept cricket close to its heart, will there ever be a force to reckon with in any other sport? Well, if hockey legend Dhanraj Pillay is to be believed, the state can show up in hockey front and produce enough players at various levels.

The former captain of the Indian hockey team, Pillay considers that the state has enough talent but needs few years to make a good report card. The former India captain has been taken on board by Sports Authority of Gujarat to unearth young talents as part of a talent hunt program.

No doubt, Pillay's presence at various hockey camps across the state in course of two weeks will be a helpful step but the big question is will the state ever be interested in playing hockey, when the national game is neglected even at the national level?

Well, Dhanraj does have an answer to this. "Before coming to Ahmedabad, I visited Rajkot and I found enthusiastic youngsters who if guided well, can play at the highest level. Just they have to show dedication and determination to excel," Pillay said, who played in four World Cups, Champions Trophies, Olympics and Asian Games. He also led the country in the 2003 Asia Cup.

But even a big player like him admits that producing world-class players will be an up-hill task. "We will start with sand base first. But I am sure within a year Gujarat will have at least two turfs, especially looking at the budget."

The Times of India



Dallastown grad Suzi Sutton chases career as international field hockey umpire

Dallastown grad Suzi Sutton left her full-time job to chase a dream career as an international field hockey umpire

By Jim Seip



Suzi Sutton, shown at right during her high school career at Dallastown, played two varsity sports at Northwestern before becoming a field hockey umpire. The 2000 Dallastown graduate and California resident works all over the world as an international umpire. (File — Daily Record/Sunday News)

The worst days of Suzi Sutton's career as an international field hockey umpire can be stressful.

Take the time she worked a tournament and had been assigned to sleep in an Army barracks. And eat in a mess hall. And ride a bus two hours to the game. And the bus broke down, twice — en route to the game.

"I could keep going, but I won't," she said, able to joke about the conditions. "But these type of things happen at tournaments and people don't realize it."

In the same breath, she knows how lucky she has been.

She can work in the sport she loves. And be recognized as one of the best in the world.

"It's a pretty cool gig," Sutton said.

Sutton's career in athletics seemed over.

At least that's what the 2000 Dallastown graduate thought.

Nearing her late-20s about five years ago, she had already completed a Division I career at Northwestern. She had played on scholarship with the Wildcats field hockey team and even played as a walk-on for the basketball team.

Done playing when she graduated college in 2004, Sutton coached field hockey with her mother, Vicki Sutton, for about a year at York College.

She had begun working at FedEx Ground in Lewisberry.

And that seemed like the end of athletics.

Almost as if by accident, she picked up officiating, working as an umpire for local field hockey games.

"When I started doing it, I really didn't know what I was doing," Sutton said.

"I think I started like a lot of people, you have an idea what the rules are but you don't have an idea how to implement the rules."

But her willingness to learn more about the sport took her places most people only dream about. And she made a connection early on.

"I went to a US Field Hockey event and someone said, 'You're pretty good at this,'" Sutton recalled.

She worked her way through the sports umpiring ranks, and since she was still young enough, she was moved up to the international development group and earned her international umpiring badge in April 2010.

She's currently at the Grade 1 level — with just 18 officials worldwide currently ranked above her at the World Panel or World Development Panel level, according to the latest rankings by the International Hockey Federation. Only one woman from the United States, Amy Baxter, is ranked above her.

"I just hope people realize there are opportunities in athletics after you're finished playing," Sutton said.

There are perks. Travel, lodging and meals are covered. She has umpired games in Canada, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain and New Zealand.

There are also some hardships. Her first trip working games in Brazil came about because she was a replacement of a replacement. The deal: She could work the game if she could get a visa and a plane ticket in one week. She jumped at the opportunity even though it meant a trip to Philadelphia to expedite her passport. She also had to drive to New York City — twice — to stand in line at the U.S. Consulate to complete the needed paperwork and acquire a visa.

And then she felt pulled in two directions.

Transferred to California through a promotion with her job with FedEx, she felt as though she couldn't work full-time and be a full-time umpire. She was willing to travel at a moment's notice, and even though FedEx worked with her through the hectic schedule, she felt like she couldn't be totally committed to both careers. So even though international umpiring doesn't pay a salary, Sutton made the difficult decision to use her savings to further her career in field hockey.

"Where else am I going to travel the world on someone else's dime?" Sutton said.

Sutton supplements her income with a part-time job working at a ranch that offers pet services that include a doggy daycare. She knows it sounds odd, but the East Palo Alto resident can't complain.

"I work at a ranch that overlooks the Pacific Ocean," she said.

This is her dream, and so far, she's been able to make it work.

"I have a good support network. I have a good support system, and I also put quite a bit of money away. I'm willing to take this chance right now. What I tell people, and the way I'm living it, I take every opportunity and try to grow."

YDR.com

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