Men’s Commonwealth Blog: Day 9
October 7, 2010
The boys had an early start to the day, as we started with a jog around the village at 8am and then a long stretch to get the body going. After breakfast we assembled in groups to watch some clips, discuss the game plan and get focused in our tough opponent from England. Everyone was keen to make amends for our sub-par performance in the first match. After a hearty lunch, some guys took the time to get out of the sun and relax, while others visited the physio room for some last minute work from our veteran physio Bob Dunlop before our 2:20pm depart for the field. It was a good atmosphere on the bus heading to the pitch and many of the guys spent time trying to set the new team record on cell phone cricket, with Froesey currently leading the pack with a score of 113.
The game was a tight and hotly contested affair, it started well for us as we got a nice goal from Ian Smythe in the first half and defended very well in the second half to keep the English attack at bay. A great performance from the Penalty Corner Defensive Unit and Antoni Kindler in net ensured us of a hard earned point in the match. India was playing Australia in the next match so a large crowd was on hand encouraging us to the final whistle. It was a big highlight of my career when we took a long lap to thank the fans after the match, as we received much encouragement and praise, especially when Shorty broke into some impromptu Bangra Dancing.
It was a very good performance from the guys and we will take much confidence into an important weekend, with games against T&T on Saturday and New Zealand on Sunday.
By: Mark Pearson (Men’s National Team)
