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 review the Malaysia game ?
Next up New Zealand ?
How do you review the Malaysia game ?
A good win and a confidence boosting scoreline. It's great to have Ashley so prolific from PCs and it makes such a difference knowing that you have a real threat from corners.
I felt our first half performance was too scrappy and we didn't have great flow from defence to attack. We were very rushed at times and our decision making wasn't as good as it could have been. This could be due to the quite surprisingly physical nature of the Malaysian defending.
That said, I felt the second half was much better and the attack in particular looked much more fluid. In the end I felt the scoreline was slightly flattering with the Malaysian team appearing to really slow down in the last 10 mins.
I felt our first half performance was too scrappy and we didn't have great flow from defence to attack. We were very rushed at times and our decision making wasn't as good as it could have been. This could be due to the quite surprisingly physical nature of the Malaysian defending.
That said, I felt the second half was much better and the attack in particular looked much more fluid. In the end I felt the scoreline was slightly flattering with the Malaysian team appearing to really slow down in the last 10 mins.
I'm sure this will be the toughest pool match for England and a real marker of their current standard. NZ are well organised, physically strong and they have some exciting forwards. They also have some really experienced players in their line up such as Dean Cousins and Phil Burrows, both will be instrumental in the Blacksticks play.
I think this will be a really tight affair and will probably rest on who takes their corner opportunities. Their specialist is Andy Hayward, who joins Hampstead HC this coming season, and he flicks a consistently hard ball and forces the keeper to have to make a save. It will be an interesting match up with George Pinner and I'm sure he'll have studied plenty of video coming in to the match.
I'm sure the winner of this one will top the final group. My prediction - England win 2-1.
I think this will be a really tight affair and will probably rest on who takes their corner opportunities. Their specialist is Andy Hayward, who joins Hampstead HC this coming season, and he flicks a consistently hard ball and forces the keeper to have to make a save. It will be an interesting match up with George Pinner and I'm sure he'll have studied plenty of video coming in to the match.
I'm sure the winner of this one will top the final group. My prediction - England win 2-1.
Glenn can be seen in action during the coming season playing for East Grinstead Hockey Club.
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