Look Out Holland

Wow, what an exciting week we have had at champions Trophy. Last night we smashed the poms 4-0 in a great game in the freezing and wet Sydney weather. Wizza (Nic Arrold) scored two awesome short corner flicks, which were then topped off with goals to Casey and Hope. Everyone was really pleased with the win which puts us one win away from the 1v2 final. We play the Dutch tomorrow and have to beat them to secure a spot against the Argies on Sunday. Cant wait. Keep an eye out on fox sports for the game.

 

Champions Trophy Game 1 & 2

We have played 2 games now and we are sitting at one and one. Yesterday we beat Germany in a great performance 2-0 but unfortunately couldn’t back it up today and went down to the Argies 1-0. It was a tight game and my first experience with the video ref. A goal was scored which was controversial so the umpires went to the 3rd umpire. It was very tense. The goal was not given. The team was all in pink today in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation which looked so great. We all enjoyed doing something good for a great cause and the crowd all loved our uniforms.

Here is a link to the match write ups;

Game 1; Germany v Australia 0-2 (Saturday 11 July 2009)

Game 2; Australia v Argentina 0-1 (Sunday 12 July 2009)

We have a rest day tomorrow which we are all looking forward to after the two first tough matches.
Bye for now

Match 2: Germany v Australia 0-2 (Saturday 11 July 2009)

> Australia beat Germany for the first time in two years in CT competition.
> Australia’s last win over Germany before today, came in the first round of the 2007 CT (2-1).
> At the age of 19 years and 160 days Emily Hurtz became the third youngest Hockeyroo ever to score a Champions Trophy goal.
> Only Karen Smith (age 18 in 1987) and Casey Eastham (age 19 in 2008) were younger than Hurtz when they scored for Australia at the Champions Trophy.
> Madonna Blyth scored her fifth goal in CT history. Three of these goals have come against Germany.
> Megan Rivers record equalling scoring streak of 5 CT matches came to an end today. She shares the record with fellow countrywoman Jackie Pereira, who scored in 5 successive CT matches in 1987

Champions Trophy Sydney 09

The Hockeyroos have finally arrived in Sydney. Over the weekend we played 2 games in Perth against Germany as a warm up to the tournament. We won the first game 2-0 and drew the second 2-2. Yesterday we landed in Sydney and we nestled right in the heart of Darling harbour but unfortunately the view is slightly dampened by the constant rain. This morning we trained out at Homebush in the wet and all got a bit of a feel for the turf we will be playing on for the next 10 days. Cronky and I got to try out our new special edition Aussie pads and kickers. Very exciting. You’ll have to watch fox sports 2 to check them out. The feel in the team is great and we are all very excited about the first game on Saturday. Oh and make sure you keep your tv’s on the Sunrise program tomorrow (Thur 9th) as they will be crossing to our training throughout the program.

Here is a photo of Kate Hollywood, Kobie McGurk, and Casey Eastham (from left) posing at Bondi Beach. This photo is to promote the launch of the Champions Trophy Tournament that begins in Sydney from July 11-19.

Here is a link to the tournament website; http://www.samsungchampionstrophy2009.sportcentric.com/

Bye for now.

Rach (Hockeyroos GK)

5 Minutes with Alistair McGregor

 

ali1

Alistair McGregor plays club hockey for Loughborough Students and his country, first representing Scotland in 2001 accumulating 114 caps to date. The 28 year old PE teacher received his first Great Britain cap in October 2007 and recently helped Team GB earn a 5th place finish at the Beijing Olympics. This was Great Britain’s best finish since winning Gold in 1988. McGregor’s outstanding performances during the Olympics was reflected when Great Britain Hockey named Alistair as its Athlete of the Year for 2008, he was selected as The Hockey writers player of the year and named for the World All-star team of 2008.

More information on Ali is available via his OBO profile

Hi Ali, 2008 was a massively successfully year for you, congratulations. What’s in-store for the 09/10 season ahead?

I am going to be Loughbough Captain and we will hopefully get back into the EHL. Next Year is the Commonwealth games with Scotland so i will be busy preparing for that.

It always makes me laugh when…i see goalkeepers wearing kit that is not OBO, i feel like going over to them and letting them know the error of their ways.

The thing I love most is…chilling at home with my girlfriend (good answer , that will keep her happy)

It annoys me when…i see OBO goalkeepers not using the ROBO right hand, i wonder if this is a fashion statement they are trying to make.

In my fridge I always havemilk, as I always eat cereal before i go to training.

The book I am currently reading is…The 7 habits of Highly Effective People by Steve Covey.

My favourite TV show is…don’t really have one, we watch lots of TV series when we have time on hockey trips. At the Commonwealth Games a group of 6 of us got hooked on watching 24!!!

My favourite band/group is…too hard to pick one, I love loads of types of music. The lads in the team laugh at my obscure music knowledge, useful for quiz though.

My stand out childhood memory is…when I tried to make my own goalkeeper kit out of polystyrene blocks. The ball hit them once and they fell apart, I was gutted as they took me hours to make.


My ideal holiday is…
one were I can chill out but there also needs to be plenty to do like swimming, watersports etc. I hate lying in the sun doing nothing I get bored very quickly.

My favourite item of OBO kit is…the custom painted helmets. I had a union jack one for the Olympics and loads of people have asked me about it. One guy offered me £500 for it, I think I just laughed at him, that is one item of kit that I will keep forever.

My favourite training exercise is…when you work so hard that our coach is the one that has to stop because he is knackered before you. There is an excellent one tat we do with 8 balls around the D that you have to smother and return to your goal. There is nothing better than the feeling of being worked to the extreme, in a weird way i love that feeling!!!!

The best save I have ever made is…I think its hard to have a best ever save, the most important save i made was in the Olympic Qualifier final vs India when I saved a deflection with my toe at 1-0 up!!!

The worst injury I have had is…when I dislocated my ankle, no not playing hockey, it was Volleyball!!!

The best advise I can pass on is…
be positive in everything that you do, learn from your mistakes and remember goalkeepers really are amazing people!!!!

Got a question you want to ask Ali?
OBO will be running a second part to this interview where we give all keepers resources users the chance to submit a question for Ali. A selection of the best questions will then be answered by Ali.

To submit your question drop a comment with your question before 17th July.

Ali McGregor OBO Profile

We have just added Ali McGregor’s profile to OBO’s list of particularly amazing people.

ali1
What club you play for: Loughborough Students
What Country you play for:Scotland and GB
Great achievements: Winning the Olympic Qualifier with GB
Olympic Games 2008
Being named in the World Allstar Team for 2008
List of gear you use: All ROBO gear, why would you use anything else?
Best goalie memory: Winning the Olympic Qualifier in Chile, beating India 2-0
How often do you train: 6 days a week
International caps:114
International debut: 2001 vs India
Any secret tips: Always have a routine that you follow for training and games
Goals in life: To be happy!

Rachael Lynch OBO Profile

We welcome Rachael Lynch to OBO’s list of particularly amazing people.

Rachael made her Hockeyroos’ debut at the 2006 Champions Trophy in Amsterdam after some great performance in the 2006 AHL season. With veteran goalkeeper Rachel Imison now retired, Lynch will be looking to make the most of her opportunities.

What club you play for: Greensborough hockey club
What Country you play for: Australia
Great achievements: Hockeyroos selection, Club premiership
List of gear you use: OBO Robo high rebound leg guards and kickers, gloves, pants and body armour.
Best goalie memory: Saving strokes in our club grand final that we won.
How often do you train: Most days – gym, hockey, pilates, club games
International caps: 20
International debut: champions trophy June 2006
Any secret tips: Just watch the ball
Goals in life: Win a gold medal at London Olympics, Aid work as a nurse overseas

Australia v England

The Kookaburras have concluded our nine game tour of Europe with two wins against England at Highfields in Nottingham. After playing them at the Hamburg Masters we knew to expect more tough opposition, and this certainly proved to be the case. Penalty corner scoring was the order of the day in our 5-4 win during game one, with Chris Ciriello flicking in a hat-trick and Luke Doerner adding another to his tally. Ashley Jackson netted three for England at the other end, with Australia’s Jason Wilson scoring the only field goal.

In game two we ran out 4-1 winners and gave England significantly less scoring opportunities, including only two corners for the game. They have proved that they will be difficult to beat at the Champions Trophy in Melbourne at the end of the year. Overall, the tour has been a successful one with the team establishing a 7-2 win-loss record. The two close losses to Germany in lead-up games prior to the Masters were followed up with a win during the tournament, so we return home pleased that we have managed to beat each side that we have played during the tour.

It has been great writing for OBO during the team’s travels and I look forward to contributing to the keepers resources site again in the near future.

Cheers,

Ross.

Australia wins Hamburg Masters

Australia won the 2009 Hamburg Masters tournament over the weekend with wins over England and Germany in consecutive days. After defeating England 5-2 on Saturday, the game against Germany was effectively turned into the tournament final when they beat the Netherlands 5-3 in their second match. With two close losses under our belts in practice matches against the Olympic champs earlier in the week, we were very keen to make amends on a bigger stage.

We started off very well against Germany, leading 3-0 at half time. The host nation managed to pull it back to 3-2 and suddenly the tournament could have gone either way, particularly when considering the fact that Germany only needed a draw to win the trophy as they had a superior goal difference. The Kookaburras once again pulled away however, and goals to Mark Paterson (2), Luke Doerner, Simon Orchard, Eddie Ockendon and Jamie Dwyer gave us a 6-2 victory. Jamie also won the player of the tournament award to cap off a very successful day for the team.

We now head to Nottingham for the final leg of our trip and two more games against England. I am really looking forward to this part of the tour as it will be the first time I have been back to England since I played a season for Sheffield University Bankers in 2001-02. I had a wonderful time playing there and credit a significant part of my development as a player to the experiences I had in the Northern Premier League. I am particularly looking forward to seeing some of the boys I played with in the team for the first time in seven years. No doubt they will be cheering on the opposition in this instance but it will be great to catch up all the same.

Australia v Holland

Australia recorded a 3-2 win over the Netherlands in our opening game of the Hamburg Masters today. We went to the break 2-1 up after goals to Luke Doerner and Eddie Ockendon, before Luke made it 3-1 early in the second half with another penalty corner conversion. Holland hit back with a drag flick of their own with less than ten minutes remaining, but we held on for the victory. Once again George Bazeley and I played 35 minutes each in the net. In the other game, host nation Germany ran away with a 6-0 victory over England, although the scoreline does not reflect the eveness of the match for long periods. We have a rest day tomorrow then come up against England on Saturday, so it will be imortant that we are at our best as I expect them to be very keen to bounce back.

Games Against Germany

We had our first loss of the tour this week in our opening game against Germany, the defending Olympic and World Cup winners. They scored in the final minute to record a 4-3 victory after we had come back from 3-1 down to get back in the game. Luke Doerner, Simon Orchard and Jason Wilson all scored for the Kookaburras in a generally even game that could have gone either way. We get a second chance against the home nation today in our final hit-up before the Hamburg Masters, and with the addition of Jamie Dwyer, Mark Knowles and Des Abbott to the squad we will be looking to get even.

One of the big challenges a goalkeeper of a touring representative side can face is getting mentally and physically prepared to play the second half of a game after sitting off for the first. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the goalkeepers in the Australian team will be interchanging at half time in the majority of the matches on tour, so being ready to play after 35 minutes of spectating is very important. In the pre-game warm-up, the two keepers rotate evenly through the penalty corner attack and goal shooting practice. If I am playing the second half, as I did in the game against Germany, I will come off after the warm-up and take off my all my protective gear above the waist plus my leg guards. I generally watch from the bench for the first 15 minutes and try to pick up any information that may be useful, such as the movement of their strikers through the opposition forward line or variations in their PCA set-up.

With about 20 minutes to go I will repeat elements of my warm-up, with some run-throughs, stretching and range of movement activities. With five minutes left I get all my gear back on and then take a bag of balls out to the circle at the half time whistle for the 17th and 18th players to hit at me before coming on in the second half. It’s useful if one of those players is a drag flicker so they can be incorporated into the hit-up, but unfortunately this is not always the case.

Please excuse the lack of picture again, I am having real trouble adding images to my posts since writing from our Hamburg hotel.

Cheers, Ross.

PS…. Just got back from game 2 so I thought I’d quickly add in the result to this post:

We suffered another close loss to Germany today, this time going down 2-1. While both of the games we have played against the Olympic Champions are essentially warm-up fixtures prior to the Hamburg Masters, they are still test matches and any loss is disappointing. Jason Wilson converted a drag flick from a penalty corner after the final siren, but by then the result was beyond doubt. I played the first half and was happy with my performance and very encouraged by the team’s efforts even though we couldn’t quite get the result we were after.