Mens Hockey

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

Wales beaten 6-0 by Argentina which means they finish eleventh in the tournament, not bad when you consider they were ranked fourteenth in the world going into it.

Disappointing finish and a dejected changing room after. As always with the pro teams you've just got to hope they don't turn up with their A game but it's very rare that they don't in any tournament. Every side only has a squad of 18, which plays in each game, and with rolling subs it means you're never facing a team that's under strength. With important world ranking points at stake in every game teams are always motivated, even in a 9th-12th place play-off like today.

Sides will always be looking to peak for these tournaments but if your players have got day jobs the opportunities to prepare properly are limited. Wales have done incredibly well to gatecrash the top level of the game but this is their lot for now. Making huge sacrifices of their time and money to go to tournaments where they know they're probably going to get their arses kicked by pro teams, even if they play their best.

They'll go again though, next up is the Euros in Germany in August. First game against the Germans, who could win the World Cup tomorrow and who stuck 8 past Wales in the last Euros. Friends and families already making travel and ticket arrangements, the players will start the fight for squad places as soon as they get back from India. What's the saying - It's not about how many times you get knocked down, it's about how many times you get back up? Something in that.

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

Three Welsh lads have made the 16 man GB squad for the Olympics. A terrific achievement as it had been pretty much a closed shop for England players in recent times but the two who made the squad for Tokyo are back and joined by Gareth Furlong, at the age of 32.

Gareth has 148 caps for Wales but had never made a GB squad until this year. He still wouldn't have done now if he didn't have a talent that no one else in Britain has, or is even close to having. The rise of Wales up the rankings in recent years has been largely down to his ability to convert short corners.

While GB have never felt he's been a good enough player to merit selection, they've finally realised that they're unlikely to win a major tournament without a good drag flicker so they've given him a run out in some recent games. Four goals and some solid all-round performances later and he's on his way to Paris. It couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke (apart from me, obviously).

The National Anthems should make an interesting watch out there. While the Welsh and Scottish players belt out their own anthems in tournaments, there doesn't seem to be quite the same enthusiasm for God Save the King. One Welsh lad says he just can't do it, even though he's captained GB recently. At least he looks fairly positive while it's being played, the Glasgow lad in the squad looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp while simultaneously sucking on a lemon. This must happen in other sports too but I'd never noticed it before.

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

Re: Mens Hockey

Three Welsh lads have made the 16 man GB squad for the Olympics. A terrific achievement as it had been pretty much a closed shop for England players in recent times but the two who made the squad for Tokyo are back and joined by Gareth Furlong, at the age of 32.

Gareth has 148 caps for Wales but had never made a GB squad until this year. He still wouldn't have done now if he didn't have a talent that no one else in Britain has, or is even close to having. The rise of Wales up the rankings in recent years has been largely down to his ability to convert short corners.

While GB have never felt he's been a good enough player to merit selection, they've finally realised that they're unlikely to win a major tournament without a good drag flicker so they've given him a run out in some recent games. Four goals and some solid all-round performances later and he's on his way to Paris. It couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke (apart from me, obviously).

The National Anthems should make an interesting watch out there. While the Welsh and Scottish players belt out their own anthems in tournaments, there doesn't seem to be quite the same enthusiasm for God Save the King. One Welsh lad says he just can't do it, even though he's captained GB recently. At least he looks fairly positive while it's being played, the Glasgow lad in the squad looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp while simultaneously sucking on a lemon. This must happen in other sports too but I'd never noticed it before.

Good news.

Interesting point about national anthems. There really needs to be a different anthem for GB&NI and for England to avoid the issue. I know a lot of English sports fans feel the same. Team England uses Jerusalem at the Commonwealth Games, but it's God Save the King for other sports like football and rugby.

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

Good news.

Interesting point about national anthems. There really needs to be a different anthem for GB&NI and for England to avoid the issue. I know a lot of English sports fans feel the same. Team England uses Jerusalem at the Commonwealth Games, but it's God Save the King for other sports like football and rugby.

Good news about the Welsh lads, yes. One of the senior coaches and other backroom staff are Welsh too, it's a reflection of the progress that's been made in the past decade. It'll be good to see a more inclusive GB side at last, hopefully it goes well and some resources are put our way for once (and Scotland's) as a result rather than all being poured into the English system.

Just seems a bit of a mess about the anthem really. With the various factions in Spain, they seem to have the right idea by having an instrumental one. No one needs to blank it then. Maybe that's the way to go for GB, just leave God Save the King to the English and have something a bit more upbeat with no lyrics for an anthem instead. I'd go with Funky Shit by the Prodigy myself but I'm sure Fred Again could rustle something up if he was asked.

[Dembe]

Re: Mens Hockey

I worked on site with 2 sparkies who played mens hockey, not sure to what level, they were (at least one) from Cwmbran. Reckon it was a really physical game, I always thought it was for ponies until they started rattling off the injuries they'd sustained.

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

Re: Mens Hockey

Funky Shit has my vote

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

Funky Shit has my vote

That's good, I don't want to think I'm swimming against the tide on here. It wouldn't just be good for sport, it would liven up stuff like Trooping the Colour too. Win win.

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

Cardiff & Met have a chance to make the Premier League play offs this weekend, a draw against Nottingham side Beeston at Sophia Gardens tomorrow will guarantee them a top eight spot and (theoretically, at least) a shot at the title. It'll seem a bit tame after the excitement and euphoria of City's game but it would be a great achievement and I'll try and get down for as much of it as possible.

Hockey's Premier League has an interesting format that I've gone through before in the loans thread, I'll run through it again here for anyone who fell asleep first time round.

There are 12 teams, all play each other once before Xmas then split into top 6/bottom 6 groups and play each team in their group once to end the second phase. The bottom four in the bottom 6 group now go into a relegation play-off, existing points intact, and play each other once again. Bottom two get relegated.

The top two teams in the bottom 6 group now join up with the top 6 group and those eight teams split into two groups of four, all teams starting on no points. The only advantage for higher placed teams is more home games. In one group the leaders of the league will have three home games, the fourth placed team two, the fifth placed team one and the eighth placed team will play all their games away. Second, third, sixth and seventh have the same system in their group.

The top two in each group go through to finals weekend in May. Semis on the Saturday, final and third place play-off on the Sunday. The winners are league champions. The team who lead the league after the second phase are guaranteed a place in Europe, there are two other European slots available on finals day. Suck on that, Belgian play-offs.

While Cardiff & Met are still in with a chance of winning a league they're currently 26 points behind in, the reality is that they'll probably spend the next three weekends travelling to the south-east of England to get their arses kicked but no Welsh team had ever made the Premier League before they did last season so making the play-offs this would be another feather in their cap. Beeston won't be easy though, they blow hot and cold but have a striker who's scored in every league game bar one this season. I'll stick the result up tomorrow.

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

Cardiff and Met lost 4-0 at home to Beeston yesterday so were relying on another result to see them qualify for the title play offs. The only team who could overtake them were 2-0 down away from home with 15 minutes left but won 4-2 so Cardiff drop into the relegation play offs instead although they're comfortably clear of the bottom two and are safe.

To be honest, they were completely outclassed yesterday by the team in 7th place so play-off trips to the teams in 1st, 4th and 5th would have been an exercise in futility. The Beeston lad who'd scored in every league game bar one this season has still scored in every league game bar one and was stupidly good. Fair play to him, he is also number one runner for opponent's short corners and carried on doing it even at 3-0 and 4-0 up. If you don't know the game, imagine trying to stop a cricket ball fired out of a cannon by running at it as fast as you can and you'll get the idea. He got nailed at one point, went down like he'd been shot but was back doing it again next time round. Warrior.

No blame on Cardiff, by the way. A bit like the Welsh national side they've done well to get where they have but can't progress further without the kind of sponsorship and funding that the top sides get. Most of the Welsh international squad have played for them at some point but tend to move on to bigger clubs, in Britain and abroad, so they've done well to get to the Premier League and survive there for two seasons.

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

The Welsh mens hockey team compete in their first world cup starting today, a stunning achievement for an entirely part time and mainly self-funded group.

They play England at 11.30 GMT. Live on BTSport2.

I dabbled in the game 40 odd years ago, bloody hard game to play even at the basic level I did.

Good luck lads.

And now a chance for Wales to make it to a second World Cup. The qualifying tournament starts tomorrow in Chile with a game against the hosts followed by France and Scotland later in the week.

A nice piece here from last night's Wales Today. It comes at 19.23, just after an item on City's finances.

https://youtu.be/Wh087cythC0?si=z3TGT16FT3sHjGHK

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

And now a chance for Wales to make it to a second World Cup. The qualifying tournament starts tomorrow in Chile with a game against the hosts followed by France and Scotland later in the week.

A nice piece here from last night's Wales Today. It comes at 19.23, just after an item on City's finances.

https://youtu.be/Wh087cythC0?si=z3TGT16FT3sHjGHK

Interesting group stage for Wales (if you like maths). A disappointing draw with Chile was followed by a 5-0 defeat to France which should've sent us home.

Except Scotland, who'd beaten France, could only draw with Chile which meant we had to beat Scotland by three goals tonight to go into the semis. We were 3-0 up in fifteen minutes and went on to win 5-0.

Three teams go through to the World Cup so two shots at it now. Semi-final v Ireland on Friday.

[Lord Worcester]

Re: Mens Hockey

Interesting group stage for Wales (if you like maths). A disappointing draw with Chile was followed by a 5-0 defeat to France which should've sent us home.

Except Scotland, who'd beaten France, could only draw with Chile which meant we had to beat Scotland by three goals tonight to go into the semis. We were 3-0 up in fifteen minutes and went on to win 5-0.

Three teams go through to the World Cup so two shots at it now. Semi-final v Ireland on Friday.

What went wrong against France? Were we expected to lose based on rankings?

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

What went wrong against France? Were we expected to lose based on rankings?

Yes. France are around 9th in the world, fully professional, their players are in the top leagues and they beat England to reach the semis of the last Euros.

They are inconsistent though, as they've shown this week, and we've picked up results against them in recent years but if they, or any of the top teams, are on it then we're really up against it.

The group turned out as expected in the sense that France won it, with us and the Scots having a shoot-out for second place but there were some twists and turns to get there. Chile were leading France for long periods last night, that would've given Chile the group with France last. It ended as a draw though which meant France won the group with Chile unbeaten but last.

France should win their semi and Ireland should beat us in the other one (although we seem to spook them for some reason). That would mean Wales v Poland for 3rd place and a World Cup spot, a winnable game for us.

[ToTaL ITK]

Re: Mens Hockey

Getting thrashed in most sports at the moment. Roll only saturday for another thrashing??

[Loramski]

Re: Mens Hockey

Getting thrashed in most sports at the moment. Roll only saturday for another thrashing??

Thanks for your input, as always. Who's playing Saturday? Or are you talking about City? Who knows?

The hockey lads get thrashed by the big boys because they're amateurs with day jobs, largely self-funding their own programme while trying to compete with professional sides who don't have to worry about stuff like whether there's enough in the kitty to get ice for an ice bath.

If you want to make a sensible contribution, I'll answer it. If not, then a thread titled Mens Hockey probably isn't for you.