2014 07 26 Glasgow Commonwealth Games: Kirkham's View MALAYSIA

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Views and Analysis

By Glenn Kirkham of East Grinstead Hockey Club

Glenn Kirkham made 223 appearances for England and Great Britain and retired from international hockey at the age of 31 in 2013.  Glenn competed in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in Beijing and London respectively as well as Commonwealth Games, World Cups, European Nations and Champions Trophy competitions.  Glenn won the European Nations in 2009 with England, defeating Germany 5:3 in the final and is considered to have been one of the most consistent performers to have graced the England and Great Britain sides.

How do you sum up the Trinidad and Tobago match ?

Job done! It wasn't the most impressive of performances for the whole 70 mins but there were some very good passages of play and it was a nice way to start the tournament. Scoring an early goal was vital, particularly in a game where England were overwhelming favourites, and it helped ease any added pressure on the boys so they could play with more freedom. It was also good to have the corner routine firing with both Ashley and Mark flicking well. I was impressed with the individual play of the Trinidad and Tobago team and of course their goalkeeper Rocke had an outstanding game. 

How do you rate England's next opponents, Malaysia ?

This will be the first fixture for Malaysia and so they will still have that mixture of excitement and nerves about getting started in the tournament. They have selected a mixed squad for the Commonwealths, to give more players a chance ahead of the Asian Games in September, and have decided to leave their star forward Faizal Saari out of the squad. It would be fair to say that Malaysia are prioritising the Asian Games ahead of the Commonwealths as winning a Gold there will give automatic qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympics. With this in mind I don't expect Malaysia to be challenging for a medal in Glasgow.

Prediction for the game ?

I believe England will continue to build momentum as the tournament progresses and will certainly want to be in a good position going in to the New Zealand fixture. With the recent experience of a 2-0 win against a stronger Malaysia squad in the World Cup, I fully expect England to win well on Sunday. The team is primarily built on a strong defence whilst having a number of talented attacking players who can unlock defences. We want to see our key players Pinner, Lewers, Jackson and Middleton performing well and leading the team. I'm also looking forward to watching Phil Roper play again as I feel he is a very talented forward who could become very important for England in the years to come.

Glenn can be seen in action during the coming season playing for East Grinstead Hockey Club.