Britain tops Netherlands, wins 1st women’s field hockey gold

The New Zealanders had the psychological advantage after beating GB in their last meeting at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park back in June, when they beat Britain 1-0 courtesy of a Stacey Michelsen effort.

Goals from Helen Richardson-Walsh and Hollie Webb gave Great Britain the shootout victory, with the Netherlands failing to score on any of their four attempts.

“We have been through ups and downs – some of the best and worst times over the last few years”.

It was a knock-out blow for New Zealand, who quickly conceded another penalty stroke after great work from Lily Owsley, with Danson taking over penalty responsibilities from the injured Helen Richardson-Walsh to put Great Britain into the Olympic final.

Helen Richardson-Walsh also scored a penalty during a disciplined GB performance.

Youngsters at McCallin’s former primary school, Long Bennington, also sent her messages of support before the final. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team defend like that in a circle – we were absolutely outstanding.

“We know we’re good at shoot-outs”, said Britain’s coach Danny Kerry. If the competition to date has taught us one thing it’s that this will be something you don’t want to miss.

India’s men’s field hockey team won six straight Olympic gold medals from 1928 to 1956.

Hinch added: “3-3, what a great advert for hockey”.

A minute later the Kiwis conceded a penalty corner but Great Britain could do nothing with it and the first half finished 0-0. “We just didn’t stick to our structure and didn’t play the way we wanted to play today”, said New Zealand goalie Kayla Whitelock.

Earlier in the day, Germany beat New Zealand 2-1 to take the bronze medal thanks to goals from Charlotte Stapenhorst and Lisa Schutze.

Kate Richardson-Walsh blocked Naomi van As’ shot as Holland threatened once more before Sophie Bray conjured up a goal for Owsley with a juggling run and shot.

Van Male’s second goal on 36 minutes restored the Dutch lead and they held on to it until the 51st minute when Nicola White made it 3-3, which would prove to be the final score despite plenty of Netherlands pressure.

Earlier in the evening Holland had qualified for the final in dramatic fashion, winning in a penalty shoot-out against Germany. “That’s won us games here – concentrating for the entire 60 minutes and knowing what our roles are”. We’re probably going to get some media attention now so we just have to make sure that doesn’t interfere with our recovery and our briefings and stuff. Both teams came out of Group A in the preliminary round and had strong showings in the knockout stage.