GB men defeated by Germany

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Two goals inside the final ten minutes consigned Great Britain’s men to a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Germany in the FIH Pro League.

A promising start saw the team go into the half-time break 2-1 up thanks to goals from Will Calnan and Phil Roper.

However, three second-half strikes from Florian Fuchs, Marco Miltkau and Timm Herzbruch cancelled out Sam Ward’s effort to ensure Germany would return home with maximum points.

Full report:

The first clear cut chance of the evening came with just under ten minutes on the clock after Calnan’s weaving run earned his side a penalty corner. From the set piece, Sam Ward’s ferocious attempt was well saved before James Gall’s follow up attempt went narrowly wide.

Great Britain weren’t to be denied for long as Calnan’s attacking threat saw the hosts take the lead less than a minute later as the forward diverted Henry Weir’s driven ball past the keeper and into the roof of the net.

The second quarter started with the same high intensity as the first, Ward again coming close from a corner only to find Tobias Walter standing firm in goal.

Great Britain were able to double their lead mid-way through the quarter as Roper struck from a penalty corner with his flick nestling perfectly into the corner of the net.

The visitors did manage to pull one back on the stroke of half-time, Johannes Grosse firing past Pinner with a powerful strike.

Within a minute of the restart Germany caught GB in possession just outside the D and made them pay, lashing the ball in with an unstoppable strike to restore parity.

GB struck back immediately after, Ward was given too much time in the circle and calmly scooped the ball over the ‘keeper with the reverse stick to take a 3-2 lead.

Germany refused to stop fighting though and tied the game up with less than ten minutes remaining, Marco Miltkau producing another fine strike for the visitors.

With the wind in their sails, the German’s pressed on looking for a late winner, and found one with two minutes left on the clock. Herzbruch found space and belted the ball into the back of the net to land the finishing blow.

After winning his 250th international cap, Great Britain Captain Adam Dixon commented: “I’m feeling a real mix of emotions if I’m being honest. I think we got off to a flier after a wonder-goal from Will Calnan, it’s always a dangerous position to be one goal up as you have a false pretence of security.

“It was nice to get the second and then I can’t really put my finger on what happened, I’ll have to go back and watch the game to see. I think we simply were pressed for long periods, fell into their traps and gifted them a couple of goals. They really took their chances when they got them.

“We’ve got to try to be positive, we’ve got another game in three days-time against one of the best teams in the world and there’s plenty to improve on. We’ve got to be at the races to get a result against Australia on Sunday."

The result sees Germany move above Great Britain into fifth place in the FIH Pro League table while the hosts drop to sixth, with it all to play for in the final three matches.

Great Britain: Pinner (GK), Ames, Forsyth, Martin, Sloan, Roper, Dixon (C), Creed, Gall, Calnan, Wallace.
Subs: Gibson (GK), Weir, Hoare, Ward, Condon, Waller, Sorsby.

Great Britain 3
Calnan (10’ FG)
Roper (21’ PC)
Ward (35’ FG)

Germany 4
Grosse (28’ FG)
Fuchs (32’ FG)
Miltkau (51’ FG)
Herzbruch (58’ FG)