We were fortunate to have the opportunity to play five test matches against the touring Great Britain Squad over the past two weeks. Great Britain flew out to Perth to begin their tour and we played them in two test matches in Perth to begin with. Match one was a convincing win for the team and the girls played some very good hockey throughout the match which is sure to have made Coach Murray a happy man indeed. Team combinations looked positive and the strikers scored some good goals which is what we have been working a lot on over the past couple of years.
The second match was not a such a glowing performance by the team and in fact was probably one of the worst matches we have played in quiet awhile. The Brits played some classy hockey and taught us a thing or two on the field about how to play some hard, skillful hockey. They held the lead for the majority for the match and we were very fortunate to score a goal in the dying minutes to level the score and then a few minutes later Hope Munro scored a great diving reverse stick goal to win us the match. I feel we did not deserve the win and the Brits outclassed us on the night and should have won the match, but credit to our team to not play well but still be able to win a match against such a good opposition.
We then travelled to Brisbane to set up camp for the week to play three more test matches in Brisbane, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast. The brisbane match was another close match with some good pieces of play from both teams. It was great to see a big crowd of Queenslanders at the field supporting the Hockeyroos and appreciating some good hockey. We won the match but we are still a long way off playing our best hockey. There are a lot of areas of our game that seem to be frustrating the coaching staff and in the next few months a lot of time will be spent trying to sort those areas out.
Match four was played in my old home town Toowoomba. I can not recall Toowoomba being so hot with the weather reaching the high 30's for the duration of the match. Toowoomba hockey have layed a new hockey pitch which will be a fantastic pitch once it settles in. As expected the association and the local hockey supporters put on a great show and made both teams feel very welcome to the garden city. It was nice to play in front of a home crowd and see so many familiar faces. I must say a big thank you to Toowoomba hockey for their very kind gesture of presenting all of the Toowoomba players with a nice gift. Very thoughtful and greatly appreciated! It was another tough international match for hockey fans to witness with the hockeyroos winning the match. Some pieces of individual brilliance from some of the British players which was great for the spectators and its always nice to see them clap good play even if it is from the opposition.
The fifth and final match was played on the gold coast which is my home town so this was an extra special match. It was great to have my family and friends there supporting and its just unfortunate that i am not playing at the top of my game at the moment, but that is something I will be working intently on over the next few months. The match was sloppy at times from our behalf and we were lucky to come away with the win. I felt the Brits out played us today and should have won the match. We won 1-0 but we were lucky. I must say a big congratulations to both Madonna Blyth and Bec Sanders for playing their 100th international match for Australia. What a wonderful achievement for both girls and something most hockey players could only ever dream about.
Both teams went their seperate ways at the conclusion of the tournament with the Great Britain team heading to China for more olympic preparations and the Hockeyroos heading back to Perth to continue our olympic campaign. I wish the Great Britain team the best of luck on their journey and it is always a pleasure to play against a great team and a great bunch of girls.
