Britain restore some faith

Hockey

Hockey

Phil McGuire staked his claim for Olympic selection with two penalty corner goals in Ipoh yesterday as Britain restored some faith in themselves with a 2-0 win against a young Dutch side. Britain will play the hosts, Ma- laysia, tomorrow for the bronze medal, writes Bill Colwill.

The British coach, David Whitaker, said: "We battled our way to a well- deserved victory in a competitive match."

Again, it was a British goalkeeper, this time Simon Mason, who kept his side in the game during the early Dutch assault before Britain took the lead two minutes from the interval with their fourth penalty corner.

The Dutch started the second half with another onslaught, and British fortunes were not looking good, with their acting captain, Rob Thompson, having to leave the pitch with an injury and the full-back Jon Wyatt suspended for a bad tackle.

As the game became ill-tempered, it was with relief that McGuire shot home his second goal to secure the play-off place.