From start to finish the Netherlands women dominated Great Britain and that was just as evident in the 6-0 score line. Just days before, the same teams were only split by one goal, Netherlands winning 2-1. Today, Marijn Veen notched two goals, while Felice Albers, Pien Sanders, Marente Barensten and Lidewij Welten also got on the board.
Veen turned on a bouncing ball sent into the circle by Yibbi Jansen and blasted a back-hand shot to open the scoring in the 11th minute. Turnovers in their own defensive areas gave the Dutch too much space to play with as Albers finished after a give-and-go with Pien Dicke to double the lead in the second quarter. The Dutch made it three on a broken-down penalty corner. Sanders touched a blast from Veen at the near post and the teams went into half time with a large gap between them.
Great Britain looked tired and disconnected and that didn’t help their cause. Then the Netherlands looked to be in a casual practice mode as a baseline passing play allowed four Dutch players to connect before Barentsen tapped it into the open net for a fourth goal. More of the same ensued when Albers fed it to the baseline and it came back for Veen to one-time in for goal number five.
Despite being hemmed in their end, Great Britain did have flashes of brilliance including some good saves from keeper Sabbie Heesh and expert individual efforts from Sophie Hamilton. The damage had been done though and Welten put the nail in the coffin with a back-hand stunner in the 54th minute to give the Dutch the 6-0 final score.
The stats were certainly indicative of the game. The Dutch had 34 circle penetrations to GB’s five, alongside 17 shots to GB’s three.
“Today was a really good game for us,” said Dutch goalkeeper Josine Koning who went untested in the game. “It was a great team effort with lots of scoring. We kept on going and it was really fun. (For the last game) hopefully it will have the same energy as today and with the same attacking from today and strong defending.”
Heesh, of Great Britain said: “This is our first trip as GB since Tokyo so to get the ground running playing the top two teams in the world has given us some lessons to learn over the next six to nine months as GB. We will have to go away and work on those and get ready to go again in Pro League later this year.”
It was yet-another tight and gritty match up for the Netherlands and Great Britain men who met just three days earlier. A 1-1 regulation time set the stage for a goalkeeper masterclass in the shootouts as James Mazarelo, earning his first GB cap today, and Pirmin Blaak were both in fine form to deny the opening three rounds. Great Britain eventually took the bonus point 2-0.
The opening two quarters were very even in play. The Netherlands had a series of penalty corners but Mazarelo denied three in quick succession. Great Britain were able to score through Nicholas Bandurak’s drag flick that did ricochet in off post player Thierry Brinkman. In the second quarter the Netherlands, again on a penalty corner, had a chance to equalize. Jip Janssen’s flick was denied by Mazarelo.
A back-hand rip from Liam Ansell looked booked for under the bar but the sharp hands of Blaak were up to the task. The Dutch had a chance at the far post to tie the game but Brinkman’s redirection went just wide of the goal to leave Bandurak’s first-quarter finish the lone goal at half time.
Late in the third quarter, a David Goodfield turnover led to a long run up the middle of the pitch by Tijmen Reyenga. Reyenga fed the ball wide to a full-speed Brinkman who spun in field on Brendan Creed and blasted a low shot to equalize for the Netherlands, 1-1.
Brave number-one running from Nicholas Park denied two penalty corner flicks from Reyenga, while a third Netherlands attempt went wide. In the 48th minute, Floris Wortelboer went off with a yellow card and the advantage was apparent. Back-to-back GB penalty corners resulted a series of saves from Blaak alongside quality number-one running from Lars Balk. Within the same time of the card Will Calnan sent a forehand blast just wide of the Blaak’s goal.
The script flipped when Ruppert Shipperley was then sent off with a yellow card and the Dutch had a run of chances. In the final minute of the game Brinkman was fouled on his way into the circle and the resulting penalty corner flick from Janssen went just wide of the far post. For the second-straight night the game needed to be settled by a shootout.
Outstanding goalkeeping from Blaak and Mazarelo kept the shootout scoreless through the first three rounds. James Albery and Ansell finished to secure the bonus point for Great to keep GB undefeated while in this Argentina series.
Mazarelo, named player of the match, said after the game: “We would have preferred to have won it in normal time but (when we have to take) it to shootouts we want to just put our game out there. In the end, we got it done in the shootout and I’m happy with that.”
Netherlands defender Lars Balk commented: “We need to make our chances and we didn’t make them. That’s what it comes down to but it is nice to play my 100th game in Argentina because I played my first here.”
Play at Santiago del Estero continues tomorrow, 17 December, with Argentina hosting the Netherlands for both men’s and women’s competition.
Santiago del Estero, Argentina (ARG)
Result: Women’s Match 10
Netherlands 6, Great Britain 0
Player of the Game: Marijn Veen (NED)
Umpires: Ayanna McClean (TTO), Maggie Giddens (USA), Federico Garcia (URU-reserve), Sean Rapaport (RSA-video)
Result: Men’s Match 16
Netherlands 1, Great Britain 1 (0-2 Shootout)
Player of the Match: James Mazarelo (GBR)
Umpires: Laurine Delforge (BEL), Federico Garcia (URU), Sean Rapaport (RSA-reserve), Ayanna McClean (TTO-video)
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