Kitty van Male levelled in the first minute of the second period, firing the ball into the top corner of the goal.
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She did her best but could do nothing as a fake shot from yet another penalty corner was switched to the far post where Van Male grabbed a second with the easiest of tap ins.
The match went to penalties before Team GB took the lead to win 2-0 against the Netherlands.
Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh played in the match against the Netherlands this evening, which led to Team GB winning gold. If they are still unbeaten after Friday’s final, GB women will be proudly wearing gold medals around their necks.
“We’re not out there shouting it, it’s just part and parcel of who we are”, Kate said. “But he also has an understanding that the best teams come from the best culture and the best culture comes from the most together team”, she said. “And we just go back to square one”, she said.
“It helped that the Dutch had a shootout in their semi-final, so that gave me a chance to see what they do but I basically give myself a game plan for each player and I execute that and thankfully it worked”.
Then Helen Richardson-Walsh put GB ahead with a penalty after Sophie Bray was impeded – the Netherlands missing their next one-one-one. Kerry returned as a coach, a clear-the-air meeting was held, a silver gained at the Commonwealth Games – and then they qualified for the Olympics in style.
“But they worry and hate playing us because they know we are gritty and feisty”.
“Under pressure they kept delivering, I’m very, very proud of them”.
It meant Britain, London 2012 bronze medallists, were champions as Holland’s bid for a third successive Olympic gold came to an end.
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Germany is the Olympic medal match veteran of the two, but New Zealand will be coming out hungry to get its shot at ending the Rio Olympics on the podium. Again on the break, Danson bamboozled the Kiwi defence to find Owsley who was tripped as GB won their second penalty. To get one of these gold medals is special, but to share it with somebody like Kate is truly awesome’. Nobody else had challenged them until Germany in the semifinals, who took the team to a sudden death shootout. You get the sense something special is happening. “Some individuals won’t but we will and you saw it with the Dutch; they lost the World Cup final two years ago and they were incredible tonight”. “We’ve got one more to play and we won’t change anything about how we prepare”. If you want to be a teacher, a caretaker, a hairdresser, a lawyer, a hockey player, whatever it is, set your sights high and go for them in your life.
