Birmingham, July 31: A thrilling draw between South Africa and Pakistan men’s sides kicked off day 2 of the games, as Wales men put on an impressive display against Canada to round out the morning session. The afternoon session saw Australia and England’s women both register big wins, while the evening session included an Indian women’s win and New Zealand being tested by a dogged Scotland side in Commonwealth Games hockey event.
South Africa 2 Pakistan 2 (Pool A men): Pakistan snatched a late equaliser against South Africa in both sides opening tie of the games.
The first quarter started with some early South African pressure, Matthew Guise-Brown having a couple of efforts blocked before striking the post in the 12th minute. After Akmal Hussain was shown a yellow card at the latter end of the half the pressure told as South Africa’s Connor Beauchamp fired home his sides opening goal of the tournament from a penalty corner.
Just 6 minutes into the second quarter the lively Beauchamp was again causing the Pakistan defence problems, seeing an effort saved by Pakistan’s keeper, Abdullah Ishtiaq. Pakistan stood firm before launching an attack of their own, resulting in Rizwan Ali converting from a penalty corner to level up the tie in the 25th minute. Chances followed for both sides but the score remained level heading into half time.
South Africa began the third quarter on the front foot, with Daniel Bell having 2 attempts on goal but to no avail. Pakistan then took the initiative and created their own opportunities, Mubashar Ali and Ajaz Ahmad both having efforts at goal either side of a Nqobile Ntuli green card. A back-and-forth quarter with no goals left the game finely balanced heading into the last period.
The final period of the game followed the pattern of the tie as both sides created openings. Abdul Shahid with the first of the quarter in the early stages for Pakistan, followed by a fresh from suspension counter-punch from Ntuli. Neither men were able to convert though and it was Guise-Brown who found the net to put South Africa 2-1 ahead with not long to go. Pakistan hit back with their own chance, Ali looking to add to his goal earlier in the game but seeing his effort saved. Just as it looked as though South Africa had edged out the encounter Pakistan’s Afraz became the hero, equalising following a penalty corner in the final minute to rescue a point for his side.
Timothy Drummond (RSA): “We thought we could get some points out of this game with the performance we put in. But they’re dangerous opposition.
“We’ve got a lot to learn and we have to learn quick as a group because we’ve got a very important game on Monday [against Scotland].”
Canada 1 Wales 5 (Pool B men): A strong first quarter, that included a hat-trick, scored set the tone as Wales thrashed Canada to get off to a dream start in the games.
Despite scoring 3 first-quarter goals Wales were on the receiving end of the opening chance of the game, with Canada’s Balraj Panesar seeing his effort saved by keeper Tobias Reynolds-Cotterill. Wales took the wakeup call and responded well, creating a couple of chances before Gareth Furlong fired the Welsh ahead in the 9th minute. An inspired Furlong then completed a remarkable first-quarter hat-trick of drag flicks with two more goals inside the last 5 minutes of the quarter to leave Canada shell-shocked and 3-0 down.
Canada, with a mountain to climb already, did grow into the game in the second quarter, Harbir Sidhu being denied before Roopkanwar had two efforts on goal. There was still time for Wales to re-assert their dominance, James Carson seeing two shots saved by Canadian keeper Ethan McTavish. A goalless quarter saw Wales to the break 3 goals to the good.
A cagey start to the third quarter saw both sides pick up green cards, before Wales’s Stephen Kelly had the first meaningful attempt of the second half. Compatriot James Carson continued the Welsh pressure, hitting the post following a penalty corner. More chances followed for Wales as they looked to turn the screw. Right at the death of the quarter the pressure told on Canada, Gareth Griffiths scoring to put Wales 4-0 up.
Griffiths also had the opening chance of the final quarter, but it was the impressive Furlong who added Wales’s 5th of the morning, from a penalty corner. Canada to their credit kept going and managed to grab a consolation goal through Matthew Sarmento with a minute to go. Despite the late goal conceded it was an almost perfect start to the games for Wales.
Daniel Kyriakides (WAL): “The performance was really good, with a little blip at the end. We’ll look at the video and see what happened, but overall it was a really good job.”
Australia 8 Kenya 0 (Pool B women): Last tournaments silver medallists Australia got their campaign underway with a comprehensive victory over Kenya who were hoping to bounce back from a big loss to New Zealand on the opening day.
The first quarter started quickly for Australia who looked to assert their attacking presence from the off. Leading from the front Australia captain Kaitlin Nobbs broke the deadlock in just the 3rd minute, with Shanea Tonkin doubling the lead just a minute later. With Kenya already on the ropes Australia continued to create chances and extended their lead to 3-0 through a Nobbs penalty stroke. A hectic first quarter was brought to a close with a Stephanie Kershaw strike from a penalty corner.
While it looked like we may have been seeing a repeat of Kenya’s 16-0 thrashing at the hands of New Zealand after the first quarter, the second was one of stubborn defence. Kenya stood firm and repelled multiple Australia attacks from the likes of Tonkin and Rebecca Greiner. They only managed to add a single goal to their tally, through a Claire Colwill goal from a penalty corner. This left the tie at 5-0 going into half time.
Dangerous forward Tonkin got the second half off to a flyer for Australia, slotting in just a minute into the quarter. A refreshed Aussie side took little time to get back into the groove, scoring a second of the quarter through Grace Stewart following a penalty corner. Despite a few openings no more goals were added and the score stood at 7-0 as the players took their final break of the game.
The final quarter was reflective of the game as a whole, with Australia creating multiple chances as players like Tonkin looked to add to their goal tally. The only goal of the quarter though came through Nobbs, who completed her hat-trick in the dying moments of the game. The result left Kenya sitting bottom of Pool B, though playing two of the strongest sides at the games first up.
Kaitlin Nobbs (AUS): “We weren’t too worried about the score, that wasn’t our focus. We were more focused on getting our process right, and I think we took a lot out of that game going into tomorrow [against South Africa].”
England 12 Ghana 0 (Pool A women): England’s women kicked off their games, in style, registering a crushing victory over Ghana.
The hosts made a fast start to proceedings, forward Isabelle Petter striking the post in just the 4th minute. After a few openings England found the breakthrough, Grace Balsdon firing home from a penalty corner in the 10th minute. Another penalty corner saw England double their lead in the final minute of the first quarter, Hannah Martin with the goal.
England continued to dictate proceedings in the second quarter, scoring in just the 3rd minute of the period through Balsdon’s second of the tie following a penalty corner. A green card shown to Flora Peel did not deter the hosts, who added to their lead courtesy of Giselle Ansley in the 27th minute, via a penalty corner. Just a minute later Holly Hunt got in on the action, leaving the score at 5-0 heading into half time.
There was no letting up from England as the players took to the field for the third quarter, Tess Howard firing home just 2 minutes into the period. Martin then grabbed her second of the game a minute later. A brutal England continued to search for more goals, and got just that as Lily Owsley got in on the action in the 38th minute. This all meant England led 8-0 going into the final quarter.
England started the final period of the game in typically fast fashion, grabbing their first goal of the quarter through Balsdon, who completed her hat trick. A penalty corner goal from Anna Toman followed a minute later before Hannah Martin tucked home a matter of seconds later to secure her hat trick. 3 goals in the space of a minute from a devastating and confident England side. There was still time for Midfielder Laura Unsworth to get on the scoresheet to make it 12 for England in the 54th minute. For Ghana the whistle mercifully blew before any more goals could be added.
Hollie Pearne-Webb (ENG): “It was incredible to run out, everyone had goosebumps. We were eager to get going after watching the atmosphere yesterday.
“I’m just really proud of everyone because in the past games like this have been very difficult, and I think today we stuck to our game plan.”
New Zealand 1 Scotland 0 (Pool B women): A valiant Scotland went toe-to-toe against a strong New Zealand side who edged out a tight encounter.
New Zealand made a fast start to proceedings, with chances from Hope Ralph and Stephanie Dickins via penalty corners. The Black Sticks women then fired themselves in-front in the 10th minute courtesy of Rose Tynan from a penalty corner. Ralph and Tynan both had further chances in the quarter but the Scotland defence stood strong.
Amy Gibson was introduced for Scotland at the beginning of the second period and made the first of multiple great saves in what was an impressive performance from the keeper. The Scots thought they’d equalised at the end of the second quarter following a penalty corner but a tight decision on whether the ball had left the circle from a penalty corner saw it chalked it off.
Scotland continued to compete with the reigning champions, as both sides looked to assert themselves in the game. Chances came and went for both sides in a cagey third quarter that ended goalless with the game on a knife edge heading into the final 15.
New Zealand headed into the final period channelling the old adage that attack is the best form defence, creating chance after chance, but dogged defending and more brilliance from Scotland’s Gibson kept the Black Sticks women at bay. However, Scotland were unable to create any more opportunities to equalise as New Zealand edged out the game to make it 2 wins from 2 and top Pool B.
FIH release
