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Commonwealth Games 2018: England men secure hockey bronze

Posted: 14th April 2018 - 12:41pm
Commonwealth Games 2018: England men secure hockey bronze

England's men have made it double hockey bronze at the Commonwealth Games.

The side put in an excellent display to defeat India 2-1 and earn them a consecutive bronze Commonwealth medal.

England women earlier claimed victory in their bronze medal match on the Gold Coast, beating India 6-0.

Barry Middleton had the first chance of the game, flashing a reverse stick effort just wide of the post with four minutes on the clock and Sam Ward rasped home low past the goalkeeper's right hand for their first goal soon after.

England enjoyed the majority of the possession for the rest of the half with Loughborough College graduate Chris Griffiths the closest to scoring as his 15th minute effort was saved.

Varun Kumar equalised before half time and both teams had good chances in the second half as a Phil Roper corner almost fell for the waiting Henry Weir, also a Loughborough College graduate.

Akashdeep Singh had a very good chance to get on the scoresheet .before Ward then made his opponents pay as he beautifully smacked home a rebound after his initial effort was blocked to grab the winner in the 42nd minute. India started to exert pressure in search of an equaliser but England's defences weren't to be breached.

Full time saw England's players rightly celebrate their victory as they showed admirable heart to bounce back from a semi final defeat 20 hours earlier.