But they were in front in the opening period against the Dutch when Lily Owsley scored from close range after Sophie Bray had dribbled past three defenders.
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Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, accompanied by their daughter Catharina-Amalia applaud their team during the medal ceremony for the women’s field hockey final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 19, 2016. Now it’s a question of who’ll come to play when it’s all on the line.
Helen Richardson-Walsh, who scored a penalty stroke after a foul during the shootout, sealed victory along with Hollie Webb, whose winning goal during the shuffles sparked delirium among the squad.
“We were able to get a stroke and able to score this time”.
“We had to ride it out”, said Britain’s Nicola White. We’ve done a lot of work with him and we’ve slowly been bringing him back. We have some tough competitors and probably the best goalie in the world in shootouts.
“I’d done my homework, I knew going up what I was going to do”. To get one of these gold medals is special, but to share it with somebody like Kate is truly awesome’.
So the mental edge was theirs – and in Hinch they had a player who had been inspired throughout the gold-medal match.
It was a painful defeat for New Zealand, who lost the bronze medal match for the second Games in succession.
Hinch is a great believer in homework. “If you finish in the top 10 in a major it is a pretty good week so I am happy”.
“We keep saying we will treat any match here as if it was a training session at Bisham Abbey, and the final will be no different”.
She told the BBC: ” The gold rush continues. I am constantly keeping my database up to date. “So proud of this right now”, said Webb.
But after the Dutch equalised, and then scored again it looked like they might take control and run away with it.
Defending champions Netherlands will play Great Britain in the women’s hockey final at the Rio Games after both sides emerged victorious in their respective semi-finals on Wednesday.
Former Sutton Valence School pupil Susannah Townsend of Canterbury Ladies and Hinch’s Holcs teammates Sam Quek, Nic White and Shona McCallin played their part as GB bravely withstood a battering from the double Olympic champions, only for White’s late strike to ensure a 3-3 draw and penalties.
But what a ideal way for the married couple that form the backbone of this side to sign off their worldwide careers – although Helen has yet to officially confirm hers.
They made it seven wins from seven matches at Rio 2016 to claim a 3-0 triumph over New Zealand and reach the Olympic final for the first time in their history. “You can be the villain, but you can also be the hero for the moment”.
They better than anyone else have seen how far the sport has come on these shores.
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Two goals in three minutes in the third quarter from ninth-ranked Germany stunned the Black Sticks and although they got one back through Olivia Merry right on the hooter at the end of that period, it wasn’t enough.
