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About thetopofthed

Columnist for The Hockey Paper and the man behind The Top of the D. Writer, podcaster, goalkeeper and BBC Sport man. Used to work for Great Britain Hockey and have covered the sport at every major tournament.

Investec London Cup: Great Britain 1-3 South Africa.

The stage was set as the PA system blared out Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory and other patriotic songs in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The crowd had been whipped up into frenzy anticipating a home win, but South Africa had obviously not read the script.

A two goal-blitz in the first half gave the Springboks the advantage and in spite of a spirited second half display, they never really looked like surrendering their lead. Continue reading

London 2012: Great Britain Ladies Squad, Part 2.

The Top of the D has already told you a bit about the first nine players who will represent Great Britain at this year’s Olympic Games, here are the other nine:

Beth Storry. Club: Reading. Age: 32.

With Argentina’s Belen Succi missing the Olympics due to falling pregnant, Storry can justifiably claim to be the best goalkeeper in the competition. Continue reading

London 2012: Great Britain Ladies Squad Part 1.

This morning, having seen the team open the London Stock Exchange at 8am, the 16 athletes, plus the two reserves, tasked with capturing Olympic Gold in the women’s hockey competition were announced.

Having begun their centralised training programme back in 2009, Head Coach, Danny Kerry called the selection process “the most thorough and exhaustive ever.” Continue reading