First win crucial for Britain's hockey hopefuls

Aug 12 2008 By Daniel Schofield, in Beijing

Sunbury hockey star Ben Marsden admitted it could have been curtains for Britain’s Olympic hockey campaign if they had squandered a three-goal lead against Pakistan.

Britain ran riot in the first half of their opening Pool B match on Monday thanks to goals from Virginia Waters' James Tindall, Rob Moore and Ashley Jackson.

Just two months earlier, Britain had squandered an identical lead in the Setanta Trophy and lightning threatened to strike twice as Shakeel Abbasi and Muhammad Waqas reduced the deficit.

But Matt Daly sealed the 4-2 win and Marsden, 28, was relieved to get Britain’s campaign up and running.

He said: "If we had let that three-nil lead slip it would have been horrendous. I don’t even want to think about what that would have done for our spirit.

"It was fairly nerve-racking at 3-2 and we were very happy to score that fourth goal.

"They have got capabilities to come back and score goals like that but we defended well under pressure and that bodes well for the next game.

"It was crucial to get that first win under our belts. It was what we needed 100per cent. It would have been nice to keep a clean sheet but 4-2 against a team like Pakistan gives us every confidence going into the next game."

Britain’s next opponents are two-time Olympic champions the Netherlands who they face today.

With the likes three-time world player of the year Teun de Nooijer in their ranks, Marsden knows Britain will need to raise their game if they are to down the Dutch.

He added: "It will be a very different game against the Netherlands. They play a lot more possession hockey and there are plenty of individuals we need to look out for especially de Nooijer.

"We will need to go back to the drawing board and work on our game because a lot more preparation is needed.

"We always we knew we would do well early on against Pakistan. They are slow starters but you would have taken a 3-0 halftime lead any day of the week.

"I think we realise it is going to be a lot harder on Wednesday but this win gives us a lot of confidence and we are looking forward to it."

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