By GARY LEMKE in Birmingham
All that glitters doesn’t have to be gold. Or silver or bronze for that matter. South Africa’s men’s hockey team missed out on a medal at the Commonwealth Games, losing against England, but reminding everyone of their progress and potential.
Tim Drummond’s men finished 10th in the tournament four years ago in Australia’s Gold Coast. Here they traded shots with the very best in the world and made significant leaps in progress. Fourth place at these Games shows the progress. Considering that they’re largely amateur and self-funded competing against seasoned professionals shows the potential.
Drummond is adamant the 6-3 scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of the game. And he’s right because South Africa played a full part and made things difficult for the world No 6 side.
“Look, most Mondays I’d be sitting at work behind a desk, making an income to pay the rent. I’d much rather be performing against a quality international side in front of a big crowd. So, this has been a special Commonwealth Games, probably one of the best tournaments of my life.”
And Drummond, now a 160-odd cap veteran, has led the team with class and integrity for a number of years. Yet, despite having tasted defeat before, this left more of a bitter taste than most.
Indeed, South Africa went toe to toe with England on a morning when the sun shone brightly in Birmingham and the game was goalless after the first quarter. Then, there was a frenetic quarter of end-to-end action.
Mathew Guise-Brown broke the deadlock from a penalty corner in the 18th minute, before England struck back a minute later. Mustapha Cassiem then scored a fine goal in the 22nd minute and charged to the corner flag to celebrate, before England responded for 2-2 in the 24th minute.
This time England went ahead from a penalty corner in the 24th minute, but in the 27th minute Ngobile Ntuli struck to make it 3-3. Six goals in 12 minutes.
But it was the quarter after half time which decided the destiny of this match. In a match that was becoming niggly and physical, England were twice down to 10 men for green-card offences and then they applied sustained pressure where they forced five penalty corners and scored to take a 4-3 lead into the final quarter. With 10 minutes remaining Phillip Roper made it 5-3, after which South Africa substituted goalkeeper Gowan Jones, who had another excellent match, in the hope of making the extra outfield man count.
It didn’t as England were able to win the ball and work their way upfield and make it 6-3. Afterwards, coach Gareth Ewing explained the decision to substitute the goalkeeper at 5-3 down.
“If you hold on with 10 outfield players and can’t score, you lose. If you pull the keeper and score then you’re right back in it, but if you lose the ball you’re going to conceded again.”
South Africa also weren’t helped by their own two yellow cards (which is a four-minute touchline sit-out), while they only managed to convert two out of nine penalty corners.
Drummond was at pains not to point fingers. “After half time we got some cards and played on the back foot. We couldn’t stop their momentum and they play with a lot of speed.
“We probably became too direct and went for goal instead of sticking to the tactical plan, That’s just pressure, they made us force things. I don’t feel the scoreline reflects the game. It definitely doesn’t show the effort and commitment that we put in and it also doesn’t show the risk we took to take the keeper off. That opens up the game and at the end of the day we need to look at the bigger picture and not just the result.”
Ewing also emphasised that while he and the team were hurting in the immediate aftermath of the game, there was plenty to look forward to. “I’m really proud of this group, We wanted to take a step forward here and we wanted to play good hockey on the front foot. We did that. You can see by the effort they put in how much it means to the guys. They’re young but are discovering how good they can be.”
And as the final hooter blew, Team SA’s campaign ended at these Commonwealth Games. They won 27 medals in total, with seven golds, nine silvers and 11 bronzes, but it was fitting that a team that exemplifies everything that is good about South Africa were on stage when the curtain came down.
Photo: Anton Geyser