2014 08 02 Glasgow Commonwealth Games: Mackay's View AUSTRALIA Gold Medal Final

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Views and Analysis

By Kirsty Mackay of East Grinstead Hockey Club

Kirsty Mackay has made 32 appearances for England and Great Britain Indoors and Outdoors and represented England recently at the Rabobank World Cup and the Investec London Cup.  Kirsty has competed also at EuroHockey Nations Championships, World League and EuroHockey Nations Indoors.

Thoughts on our semi-final performance ?

I thought it was an excellent performance, the best performance I have seen us put in for a while. We absolutely dominated New Zealand for the 70 minutes. We had all of the possession and when NZ had the ball they looked as though they had run out of ideas. They either hit the ball off the side of the pitch or passed the ball onto an English stick. Our team defence was resolute and we just played with confidence and the determination not to lose any 50/50; any foot race or any tackle. It was great to watch us play with our mojo back! I am sure NZ will be severely disappointed with their team performance here, there was no unity and their experienced players did not deliver. I did think they're young defender Samantha Charlton had an excellent game but we were too strong for NZ today!

Australia in the final; how do you think we will do ?  Who will England need to perform ?

Well, I honestly think it can go either way in a final regardless of previous results and current form. I know that the girls will be up for this today and will be wanting to put the previous result right! I think the crowds will help today; it will be like playing in with a home advantage in England.  The Scottish crowds have bee very supportive of the home nations, it has been a great atmosphere so far and Scotland have done themselves proud as hosts !

Obviously, we have seen Australia attacking with real pace and they have been very clinical. I think if we can minimise them winning penalty corners against us, we will help ourselves massively. As we have all seen and as I've previously alluded to, the Australia short corner routine is the real difference at the moment and has filled their team with a confidence that they have not previously had. Kenny has seemed to have been the favourite choice at this tournament demonstrating some excellent accuracy with her flicking at corners, yet we still need to be mindful of Flanagan who was on top form at the world cup too. I feel that between the D's we competed with them in our first encounter here and came out with some great opportunities. I still think that we can definitely capitalise on their defensive line, apply pressure and use our pace and physicality to get some positive outcomes in the D. 

We need everybody to perform today, no individuals will win us the game. We just need to focus on our game, take it to them and play with confidence. Just another great team performance as per the semi-final and we will see where it will take us!

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

2014 08 02 Glasgow Commonwealth Games: Kirkham's View AUSTRALIA Semi-Final

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 feel England have progressed so far this tournament ?

Obviously I'm sure they will be disappointed to have finished second in the group and therefore play Australia in the semi final but on the whole I believe they'll feel that their performances have improved as the competition has gone on. It was a decent performance against New Zealand despite the result and the attacking play against Canada was really positive. The connections between Catlin, Jackson and Middleton in the final third were excellent. It's great to see our best players playing well which is so important if the team are to medal. 

And the semi-final ?

I would certainly have preferred to see this as the final match but as they say you have to beat them at some stage to win the gold so why not now! Australia have been consistent again but perhaps not winning by the kind of margins that I would have expected before the tournament. They are certainly beatable and I believe with somewhere near England's best performance and a slightly below par showing from Australia and the boys will make the final. A lot will rely on the strong team defence that England have developed over the last two years and then whether we can convert our corners - no pressure Ash! 

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

2014 08 01 Glasgow Commonwealth Games: Mackay's View NZ Semi-Final

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Views and Analysis

By Kirsty Mackay of East Grinstead Hockey Club

Kirsty Mackay has made 32 appearances for England and Great Britain Indoors and Outdoors and represented England recently at the Rabobank World Cup and the Investec London Cup.  Kirsty has competed also at EuroHockey Nations Championships, World League and EuroHockey Nations Indoors.

We seemed to dominate Scotland for large spells in the first half; what do you think happened ?  Did they work us out or were we a little unlucky with our chances ?

On the whole I was pretty impressed with the England performance, particularly with the number of chances and circle entries created in the first half. I feel it was down to a combination of Scotland stepping up their game in the second half and England not putting more of their chances away earlier on. Scotland had nothing to lose and so they could go for it.  Had they threatened more in their penalty corner attack, it could have been a very different result. Yes it was scrappy, but thats the passion involved in a typical home nations battle. It was a great game for the spectator, hearts were on sleeves and everybody battled to the end.

Big semi-final today v New Zealand; what are your thoughts ?

As I have been watching most of the action from our pool and our men's games I actually haven't seen New Zealand play at this tournament yet. From what i can tell, they haven't yet been tested defensively, only conceding one goal vs South Africa! They have demonstrated that they are clinical, as they have scored a total of 25 goals thus far. 

New zealand are an experienced side and are a quick, direct, counter attacking side. They won silver in Delhi, four years ago and so they will be looking to achieve yet another commonwealth games final. Their key players to be weary of are Anita Punt, Gemma Flynn and Katie Glynn. All are very strong on the ball, Punt is tremendously quick, so we will need to be concentrating on our marking against her and be mindful of our distances. 

We have been putting in some great performances in halves of games and if we can do that for the full 70 minutes, then I think we can beat them today! They had a close encounter with SA, the only team to pressure them at this tournament so far, so I think they will be fearful of what pressure we can apply to them today. A good team performance today will get us a result!

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