Surbiton players come through unscathed

11:23am Wednesday 23rd July 2008

Surbiton's six Beijing-bound members fly out tonight with the rest of the Team GB squad to the British Olympic Association holding camp in Macau tonight.

All avoided last-minute injury in two preparation games played at the Braxgata Hockey Club, near Antwerp, last week, in which Britain drew 1-1 and lost 3-1 against hosts Belgium.

Because of the absence of officially appointed umpires and a match delegate, the fixtures were downgraded from internationals to practice games.

Britain's five outfield subtitutes were reduced to four in just the second minute of game one, when Scotsman Stephen Dick had to leave the field after a clash of heads with a Belgian defender.

That number shrank to only three for game two, with Dick still unavailable to play and central defender Richard Mantell taken ill overnight.

But the matches proved a success for Surbiton's James Tindall, who scored both his side's goals.

Tindall and Surbiton clubmates Richard Alexander, Matt Daly, Ben Hawes, Ben Marsden and Rob Moore are now looking forward to competing for Olympic medals from August 16-23 after further training games, against New Zealand in Macau and Germany on reaching Beijing.

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