A wet and windy weekend at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre saw both Great Britain’s Hockey teams secure qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A 5-1 win for the Women and a 9-3 victory for the men on aggregate across the weekend has convincingly secured them a spot at the games.
The East London Olympic venue was host to the new format of qualifying matches.
The Women’s team took on Chile who are currently ranked 18th, the second lowest of the teams which were looking to qualify.
This weekend was the first time the two sides have faced off against each other in a competitive capacity before.
The Men’s team took on Malaysia. Great Britain’s opponents have not made it to an Olympic Games since 2000 and this weekend did not see that change.
Changes To Qualifying
This weekend saw all countries hoping for a place in Tokyo play a two-legged match back to back over Saturday and Sunday, with the result being decided on the aggregate score.
This is the first time this format has been used.
Defending Olympic Champions
Looking to defend their Olympic champion status in Tokyo, the women’s team played the opening match taking a 3-0 lead in the first leg of their qualifier against Chile.
It was tentative start to the game which saw a lot of scrappy defending and sporadic chances in front of goal.
Despite Chile having a number of short corners throughout the game, there were only a rare few occasions which posed a real threat of them scoring.
All of Great Britain’s goals came in the second half with Izzy Petters opening the scoring at the start of the second half, belting a shot in from the top of the circle.
Great Britain’s second and third goals coming from Hannah Martin and Anna Toman, which put them in a solid position towards securing qualification on Sunday.
Convincing First Match
Great Britain’s Men followed in similar style starting their fight to secure an Olympic spot.
A 4-1 win against a strong Malaysia side also put them in good stead after their first match.
A nervous start to the game saw Great Britain concede only six minutes into the game, letting Malaysia take the initial advantage with a goal from Nabil Noor.
With no goals in the first half for Great Britain Malaysia were dominating making it hard for the hosts to find a way through.
Great Britain needed a strong second half and that is exactly what they produced.
Sam Ward scored a crucial goal three minutes back after the break to bring the side back into the game.
Ward’s equaliser sparked a chain of goals for Great Britain seeing them produce three more goals in 14 minutes.
A thundering shot from Phil Roper gave Great Britain their second goal and take the lead. Alan Forsyth followed with an impressive pinpoint shot straight into the corner of Malaysia’s goal.
James Gall rounded off the scoring getting Great Britain’s final goal of the game and his first for the team to make it 4-1.
Getting The Job Done
From the start of Sunday is was apparent both teams were feeling more comfortable as they went into their respective second legs both with healthy leads.
Great Britain’s Women came into the match focused, knowing what they had to do.
Less than five minutes played and Tess Howard fired a shot from close range to give Great Britain their first goal of the day.
Laura Unsworth found the roof of the net extending the lead to 2-0 and putting them in a good position of 5-0 on aggregate only seven minutes in.
A late short corner from Chile saw Fernanda Villagran clinch a goal back but after their 3-0 win on Saturday and an assertive 2-1 win on Sunday, Great Britain’s Women had already done enough to secure their place in Tokyo next summer.
Above And Beyond
Following the same pattern as the day before Great Britain’s men also won 5-2 on Sunday to put them through 9-3 on aggregate.
Their commanding performance in the second leg saw Forsyth score a hat-trick, the first of the three goals being his 100th international goal.
A beautifully choreographed set of moves between Ollie Willars and Harry Martin found Ward at the near post who was able to lift the ball past Malaysia’s keeper to get his first of the game.
Despite Great Britain’s keeper George Pinner being called into action to make some remarkable saves he was unable to keep a shot from Fitri Saari out from a short corner and keep a clean sheet.
Wards second goal was quickly followed by Malaysia’s last goal of the game coming from Razie Rahim.
With five minutes to go and a five goal difference over Malaysia, Great Britain were still pushing beyond the effort needed which resulted in Forsyth completing his hat-trick to seal the victory of the tie and a place at the Tokyo games.
