A hat-trick from Reading’s Alex Danson and a strong all-round team performance helped Great Britain to a 0-3 victory in their first of five test matches against the USA, in San Diego. The game saw Bowdon Hightown’s Sally Walton make her 100th appearance, combining Great Britain and England caps, on the international stage.
With only three minutes played Alex Danson fired a shot home to make it 1-0 after Reading teammate Laura Bartlett had done some good work to get the ball into the circle. Great Britain continued to press with some strong team work and solid structure and ensured that the USA defenders had a lot to do in the early stages of the game.
The momentum was firmly with Great Britain and it took just 11 minutes of play for the next breakthrough to come. Danson picked up the ball on the top of the circle and chipped a delightful ball past the US goalkeeper, Jackie Kintzer, to claim her second of the game.
The US did enjoy periods of pressure during the first half, but the Great Britain defence answered every question asked of them and speaking after the game Great Britain’s team manager, Hilary Rose, commended the efforts of the whole team after keeping a clean sheet against a tricky opposition.
At the end of play in the first half Great Britain had two consecutive penalty corners; the first of which saw the ball cross the goal line, however the Umpire had already blown the whistle and another corner was awarded. The re-award saw Kinzter make a strong save and the US were are to clear the ball away.
The second half went much the same way as the first. Great Britain were awarded six penalty corners in total throughout the game and it took some excellent saves from Kintzer and some strong defending to keep Reading’s Kate Walsh and Leicester’s Crista Cullen off the score sheet. Danson, however, was not finished yet and 21 minutes into the half she fired a precision reverse stick shot from the left of the circle across the goal to the right hand corner of the goal. After the game, Rose highlighted Danson’s performance and credited her for three superb individual goals.
In the dying moments of the game the US had a chance to spoil Great Britain’s clean sheet with two penalty corners. Great Britain’s goalkeeper, Abi Walker, who had not seen a great deal of the ball throughout the game continued the strong team performance by saving both and the match finished 3-0.
Speaking after the game Great Britain women’s coach Danny Kerry said, “It was a good first performance which generated a lot of opportunities for us. We defended really well and it was evident that the elements of play we’ve been working on in practice were visible in our match play today. It was a really strong team effort.”
After taking part in her 100th senior international game Sally Walton said, “We started with a good tempo and pace; it’s a long time since we’ve played a competitive game as Great Britain. This performance has set a good benchmark for the rest of series.”
Great Britain’s next game against the USA is on Tuesday 12 December (13:00 local time, 21:00 GMT).
Great Britain Fixtures v USA
Date - Time UK - Time USA - Fixture
Sunday 11 December - 21:00 - 13:00 - USA v Great Britain
Tuesday 13 December - 21:00 - 13:00 - USA v Great Britain
Wednesday 14 December - 21:00 - 13:00 - USA v Great Britain
Friday 16 December - 21:00 - 13:00 - USA v Great Britain
Sunday 18 December - 19:00 - 11:00 - USA v Great Britain
Great Britain Hockey report
Sportsister, The Women’s Sports Magazine
