|
Home
> WHU News Room >
17 September 2005 (PR23/05)
WALES WIN BRONZE IN ROME
Headline
News story
continued from 'home' page...
Wales commenced their semi-final with two players
unable to play. Simon Organ’s red card meant that he was
suspended for this game and Captain Rhys Joyce was unable to
play as a hand injury sustained in his green card incident in
the game against the Czech meant he could not hold a stick. This
situation opened the door for Joel Evans to get his first cap in
this tournament and Alyn Meredyth would get his second
international start.
From the off Wales were in control. Two short
corners in the same amount of minutes showed how quickly Wales
wanted to dominated the Austrians However the shots went high
and wide and the second wasn’t stopped. A third five minutes
later was successfully intercepted and it looked like for the
first time in this tournament the Welsh short corners, that had
been so successful in the group faze, were not going to succeed.
The game was almost completely played in the Austrian half but
the Austrians played the breakaway well and in the 17th minute
Armin Stremitzer completed the move putting the Austrians ahead.
After 20 minutes Joel Evans got his first chance to perform and
almost straight away got the Welsh a short corner. However
despite numerous shots on goal they were unable to finish until
just before halftime Ben Rogers got his first goal of the
tournament.
The second half continued as the first. Alyn
Meredyth played a superb role in centre half but still the net
remained elusive. As the clock ticked down it seemed that the
only place the ball would not go was in the Austrian net.
Seventy minutes arrived and the game moved into a golden goal
period. Immediately the Welsh pressured the Austrian net and but
as during the first 70 minutes they could not complete. The
Austrians broke away but again the Welsh defence stood firm.
However four minutes into extra time Andy Cornick took the ball
down the right wing and three yards out crossed the ball onto
Ollie Coopers stick and this time he was not going to be denied.
His fifth goal of the tournament brings Wales a European medal.
With just one defeat in this tournament Wales
must feel a little aggrieved that they finished in third place.
With no team winning all their games they could easily have
gained the promotion they craved. However with this result they
move two places higher in the European rankings and seeded for
the next tournament in 2007
[ends]
For information regarding the Welsh Hockey Union,
please contact
Chris Brewer on 029 2057 3945 or 07976 982092
 |
Also
available as a downloadable MSWord document (65.5kb) |
Please note: Information published in news
stories was correct at the time of publication. Information,
circumstances and data may have chance since.
Back to top of page |
Back to News Room |
