Day 2 Games Polocrosse World Cup, Warwick, Tuesday 24 April 2007

NEW ZEALAND - 28 : CANADA - 2

A very convincing win by NZ. Their superior horsemanship skills really came to the fore. Dean Gower from the NZ men threw 9 goals for the match despite some hard work in defence by Canadian no.3 Bruce Greenslade who was forced to chase and defend from the opening whistle.The NZ lady Casey Mullany scored 10 goals combining well with her sister Cally and Megan Staples who played a full game in the no.2 shirt for NZ. Pam Bergen was the only scorer for Canada throwing their 2 goals. The men's section was kept scoreless throughout by the rock solid defence of Shane Hill and Kane Matthews. Great sportsmanship shown by Dean Gower playing in the no.3 shirt for NZ in chukka 4, when he saved Canadian no.1 and Captain Sean McArthur from a certain spill by keeping him in the saddle.

Photo courtesy www.sportingimages.com.au

New Zealand player Sue Gower said, "this was a very clinical game in which we were able to try lots of different combinations and horses in an effort to keep the game clean, tidy and precise."

Pam Bergen, Vice Captain from Canada said, "it is so nice to play competitively. When we play teams like New Zealand there is no room for error. I think the women had a strong second chukka, but in the last chukka there were a few mistakes - nothing major and we will learn from it. We loved it and haven't stopped smiling, and we'd better mention the Aussie beer - it's really good!"

AUSTRALIA - 20 : UNITED KINGDOM - 7

Australia ran out winners 20 goals - 7 in this game. It was a game that never really reached any great heights; it was played in a slow motion sort of way and was very heavily controlled by the whistle. Both teams switched players around trying different combinations for the future games to come later in the week. Martin Brookes for the UK had a very good game, as did Shelley King the no.1 in the woman's section. Australia's Hayden Turnbull had a very good game in the no.3 position. Overall it was a very good team effort from the Australian side.

Australia's Jane Cooper, said "we were pretty nervous about today as we didn't get to meet the UK at the last World Cup in 2003. However, we enjoyed the game, it was good to get out there and get a win. We'll meet in the bar for a drink." UK team member Martin Brookes said, "we've been looking forward to this game ever since we saw the draw. To line up against your heroes was an awesome experience! The men won the 4th chukka which we were really happy about. It was good to get to play against the World Champions."

Photo courtesy www.sportingimages.com.au

ZIMBABWE 21 : USA 11

It was a competitive match where the scoreboard did not indicate the true intensity of the match. Kirsten Dodd for Zimbabwe was dominant in chukka one setting up a 4 - 1 lead. Howard Baker kept the momentum going with another 4 - 1 chukka for Zimbabwe and from there the Zims were never in danger of being beaten. USA's Katherine Pickens did however mount a comeback in chukka 3 scoring 3 goals. Rob Shuttle the no.1 for the USA men's section found the going hard against a committed Zimbabwe defence finishing with only 5 goals for the match.

The USA's Ryan Murphy said the team improved on yesterday's play but made too many mistakes. "It's about ball to goal conversion and the Zims probably got the same amount of ball but made less mistakes than we did. When they get the ball they score and we didn't do as well. We're so lucky to have such good fields and such great horses to ride."

Zimbabwe's Frances Dodd said the team played much better than yesterday and got their horse/rider combinations worked out. "Our horses played differently to when we practiced them," she said. On a personal note, Frances enjoyed playing the whole game with her sister, Kirsten.

Zimbabwe's Ashley Panter said the competition was good and agreed with Ryan it was a safe, clean game. "We started to sort out combinations, horses and riders as well as sections," Ashley said. "We're all starting to click better. It was also very good to play against the Americans, they're good sports."

SOUTH AFRICA 23 : IRELAND 14

This was probably one of the most exciting games of the Ridley's tournament so far, it had everything. The game was very even up until chukka number four when the Sout African men started to dominate through some very good ball work in back play and by getting the ball to Charl Du Plessis who threw some magnificent goals both over arm and underarm. The women did skip away in chukka 5 to lead 19 goals to11. In the last and final chukka we saw the sin binning of the SA no.1 Charl Du Plessis. Fortunately it was towards the end of the chukka and they went on to win 23 -13. This game certainly had the crowd on its toes and there was great polocrosse entertainment to be seen.

South Africa's Gavin Cocker said the match was keenly contested. "Every game you learn a bit more about which horse suits which player," Gavin said. "Our congratulations go to Ireland, they played a good game."

Ireland's coach Tony O'Donnell said his team had picked up from yesterday and the 'scoreline didn't necessarily reflect the spirit'. "The thing we're lacking is experience at this level and you can't buy that," Tony said. "I'm very proud of our boys and girls, they worked hard. We've got the fighting Irish spirit but more experience would help. We got the horse combinations wrong yesterday but in general they're outstanding, 'fair dinkum' good horses as they say. But it's not the horses that will win this competition it's the players."