5-8 Playoff
England 4 defeated New Zealand 3
Goals: ENG – Simon Mantell PC 35+m FG 60m, Glenn Kirkham FG 46m, James Tindall PC 70m; NZL – Hayden Shaw PC 29m, Ryan Archibald PC 33m, Simon Child FG 54m
Taking into account the games so far, New Zealand entered the first crossover match of the 2006 BDO Hockey World Cup as slight favourites in the battle for which team would make it into the playoff for fifth place.
And the Kiwis looked like they were going to take the honours for much of the game too, scoring two goals in the first half and adding another when Engalnd pulled level.
The finish was England’s however, Simon Mantell levelling the score once more, and James Tindall putting away a last minute winner.
England had had the better start today too, pressuring the Kiwi defense up high and creating several chances early in the game.
New Zealand soon recovered though, turning the match into an open one, both teams now creating opportunities – though few overall - and getting roughly equal shares of ball possession.
In the 29th minute, New Zealand won their second penalty corner of the day, and Hayden Shaw made good use of it with a flick to the left side of the goal. England goalkeeper James Fair got to the shot with his stick but the deflected ball still ended up in the net.
Four minutes later, another corner for New Zealand. As usual, Hayden Shaw stepped up for it, this time playing a flat ball to the left post where team captain Ryan Archibald brilliantly deflected it for the two goal lead.
But England were all but defeated, winning a penalty corner with the sound of the hooter. A clever variation saw Richard Mantell fake a flick and pass to Ben Hawes. Hawes’ hit was saved by Kyle Pontifex but Simon Mantell was ready for the rebound.
The teams thus went into halftime at 2:1.
After the break, England returned the more motivated side, working harder and running more while New Zealand seemed to be holding back a little and waiting for opportunities rather than creating them.
The Kiwis promptly were presented with the consequences, having to take the equalizer when a Jerome Goudie shot was saved by a Kiwi defender only to see the ball bounce to English captain Glenn Kirkham who launched a reverse stick shot that left Kyle Pontifex, who played his first match in this World Cup today, surprisingly replacing number one keeper Paul Woolford, without a chance to react.
The game was now completely ope and could have gone either way but it was New Zealand who went ahead again when James Fair warded off a Ryan Archibald shot, young Simon Child picking up the ball for a beautiful reverse stick shot for his third goal of the tournament.
With less than 10 minutes to go, the pace of the match picked up again, neither team keen on going into extra time. New Zealand seemed more prudent, England’s attack at times looking desperate.
Eventually, with just over a minute to go, when everyone was thoroughly convinced the match was heading into extra time, England won another penalty corner. England played a variation, laying the ball off to the right, then passing back into the middle, where James Tindall was waiting and had no difficulty pushing it over the line for the winning goal.
Tough luck for the Kiwis who looked the better team for much of the match but were unable to use their chances as effectively as England used theirs.
New Zealand thus go into tomorrow’s match for 7th place while England will play for 5th place.
Pakistan 3 defeated Netherlands 2
Goals: PAK – Shakeel Abbasi PC 10m, Sohail Abbas PC 33m, Muhammad Zubair PC 36m; NED – Rob Reckers FG 42m, Taeke Taekema PC 47m
Netherlands suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Pakistan, and now find themselves in a play-off to avoid 8th place in this tournament. Pakistan will now face England in the battle for 5th place, with Netherlands taking on New Zealand in the 7th / 8th place play-off.
Pakistan were missing Dilawar Hussain, who received a suspension following an incident with Troy Elder against Australia on Wednesday, but started the match well, and took just ten minutes to take the lead. Shakeel Abbasi deflecting a low Sohail Abbas penalty corner into the goal.
Netherlands fought had to get back into the match with Teun de Nooijer and Rob Reckers creating chances, but a Sohail Abbas penalty corner drag flick on 33 minutes left the men in orange looking frustrated at half time.
The second half began in spectacular fashion thanks to a moment of brilliance from Muhammad Zubair. Receiving the ball on the left of the circle, Zubair smashed a sensational reverse stick shot which flew into the goal off the inside of the right post, giving Guus Vogels no chance of making the save.
At 3-0 Netherlands looked finished, but two goals in five minutes completely changed the face of the game and set up an enthralling final 20 minutes. Rob Reckers grabbed Netherlands first goal from open play, then another trademark Taeke Taekema penalty corner effort hit the back of the net at lightning speed.
In the 56th minute the match threatened to turn ugly when Sohail Abbas picked up a rebound from the Guus Vogels and hit a reverse stick shot after the umpire had blown for an infringement. The Netherlands players were furious, and after the incident had calmed Abbas rightly received a green card.
The last ten minutes saw goalmouth scrambles at both ends of the pitch, and yellow cards for Pakistan players Ihsan Ullah and Rehan Butt. In the final minute of the game Netherlands twice went close in from one penalty corner, but Pakistan cleared and secured their place in the 5th / 6th place play off.
Semi Finals
Australia 4 defeated Korea 2
Goals: AUS - Bevan George PC 38m, Travis Brooks PC 51m, Jamie Dwyer FG 60m, Michael McCann FG 70m; KOR - Jong Hyun Jang PC 31m, Seong Jung Kang FG 41m
Australia twice came back from behind to beat Korea 4:2 to move into Sunday’s final against either Spain or home favourites Germany. Korea were a genuine test for the Olympic champions and world number one side, but the Kookaburras proved to be simply too good.
The opening 15 minutes of the first half saw a great deal of Australian possession, but undoubtedly the best chances fell to Korea. Hyo Sik You forced the in-form Aussie keeper Stephen Mowlam into a terrific save after seven minutes, and Jong Ho Seo’s diving effort inside the circle was wide of the target. The forward had more time than he realised, and should have done better.
Australia looked threatening when on the attack, but vulnerable to the pace and quick passing moves of Korea. Ten minutes before the end of the half Korea took the lead with a superb penalty corner drag-flick from Jong Hyun Jang, which sailed into the right hand side of the goal.
Typically of this Australia team, they did not let the goal affect them and continued to push forward. In the 30th minute Korea goal scorer JANG made a timely interception to stop Nathan Eglington from equalising.
Australia started the second half impressively, and looked likely to grab an equaliser, which duly came from Bevan George. The big defender grabbed his third goal in two matches from a penalty corner, deflecting a Brent Livermore pass into the goal.
Korea replied almost immediately in the 41st minute thanks to an excellent solo goal from Seong Jung Kang, who went around the back of the Australia defenders before beating Stephen Mowlam at his near post.
Ten minutes later Travis Brooks tapped in an ingenious five pass penalty corner routine to pull the scores level again, before the outstanding Jamie Dwyer deflected in from point blank range to give the Kookaburras the lead.
Korea worked hard to try and get an equaliser of their own but left themselves exposed at the back, and Australia almost punished them for it on more than one occasion. Eventually Korea left themselves exposed once to often, and Michael McCann put the ball in the net with only seconds left on the clock, making the score look more comfortable than the reality.
Germany 2 defeated Spain 2
Goals: ESP – Santi Freixa PC 27m, Alex Fabregas FG 47m; GER – Bjoern Emmerling FG 19m, Moritz Fuerste FG 46m
Another cracker on this day of thrillers came in form of the second semi-final that had still world champions Germany take on European champions Spain in the Warsteiner Hockeyarena that was once more well filled with an enthusiastic crowd.
The hosts looked shaky in defense at the beginning of the match but Spain could not take advantage of it, even though aggressively trying.
A first moment of real terror came for the home crowd when the ball ended up in goal in the 18th minute after confusion in the crowded circle but after the video umpire had been consulted, no goal was awarded.
Barely a minute later, Germany did score on the other side. Carlos Nevado deflected a hit towards the goal, and Bjoern Emmerling, standing directly in front of the goal and goalkeeper Bernardino Herrera, in a brilliant turning motion merely tipped the ball to change its direction marginally.
The direction of the ball thus changed only a meter from him, Herrera was caught on the wrong foot and had no chance to get to it. An exceptional display of skill from the experienced Emmerling.
Spain on the other hand had opportunities mostly from numerous penalty corners in the first half all of which were accompanied by loud booing from the crowd to distract them, but they still converted their fourth attempt when Santi Freixa coolly hit a flat ball slightly left to the center of the goal that went in under Uli Bubolz.
In the last three minutes of the first half, Germany had several great opportunities to grab a halftime lead but the Spanish defense worked hard to deny them.
The game re-started with a lot of forward drive from Germany putting pressure on the Spanish defense up high and attacking much. The Spanish defense soon struggled which showed in a series of turnovers in midfield, giving the German forwards several chances that were missed.
Until the 46th minute, when Matthias Witthaus made his way down the left outplaying several Spanish, then hitting a brilliant reverse stick shot across for Moritz Fuerste who had no trouble pushing it in.
Less than a minute later however, Spain levelled the score again when Alex Fabregas slammed the ball into the net from close range on the rebound after Bubolz had saved a shot from the right.
Germany had the opportunity to re-claim the lead with a penalty corner little later, caused by Ramon Alegre who tripped Matthias Witthaus at the top of the circle just as the pass across arrived, but a good save from Bernardino Herrera denied them.
While Alegre did not get carded for this incident, Germany’s Oli Hentschel did see the yellow card a minute later when sliding into Xavi Ribas feet first.
Despite being one man up for ten minutes, all Spain could do in terms of good chances was one penalty corner, taken by Santi Freixa with a flick to the middle of the goal that was well saved by Bubolz and cleared by the German defense.
Upon Hentschel’s return, Germany again pressured aggressively, Spain struggling with individual errors as they had through much of the game, making it too easy for the German forwards.
Three minutes from the end, to the great and very noisy dismay of the spectators, Spain was awarded another penalty corner. With Santi Freixa out on the bench, Xavi Ribas stepped up and launched a powerful flick to the top right corner of the goal but the ball went just wide.
The last minutes of the match were hectic, neither side keen on going to extra time. With frantic attacks here and there, the clock ticked down for a 2:2 draw after seventy minutes.
A minute into extra time, Spain had their first great opportunity with another penalty corner but their decision to try a complex variation proved wrong, the German defense interrupting the routine and clearing.
Germany then had the better opportunities in the first 7 and a half minutes of extra time, the Spanish defense looking in dire straits but fighting tooth and nail, they hung on to the draw.
When the teams had switched sides, the match continued flowing back and forth quickly, both teams pushing for the elusive golden goal.
Spain looked stronger than they had in the first part of extra time and controlled ball possession much better. Forcing a few turnovers, they also had more shots on goal but to no avail – the clock ticked down once more, signalling the need for a penalty stroke competition.
For the penalty strokes, Spain sent Quico Cortes into goal, replacing Bernardino Herrrera who had done his share during the 85 minutes.
First up was Christopher Zeller, putting away a flick to the top left corner of the goal.
First up for Spain was Santi Freixa, opting for a ball to the bottom left corner of the goal, but Bubolz deflected it wide with his stick.
Next came Timo Wess, flicking the ball mid high to the left side. Cortes moved to the right and had no chance to catch it.
Second striker for Spain was Pau Quemada, aiming for the right post but like Freixa before, he was denied by Bubolz.
Moritz Fuerste’s weak flick to the middle of the goal caused no problem for Cortes.
Edi Tubau put a mid-high flick perfectly placed just inside the left post.
With a ball just as perfectly placed, Phillipp Zeller converted to the bottom left corner of the goal, putting the pressure on Spain to convert the next stroke or be eliminated.
Pol Amat was up next, and the pressure was too much for him. He did not connect properly, and the ball rolled towards the left post slowly, no challenge to Uli Bubolz.
The match thus ended with a win for Germany, the hosts joining Australia in the final while Spain will play Korea for Bornze on Sunday.
