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Saturday 15th September 2007 |
 In
their final game Wales neededjust one point to ensure survival in the EuroHockey Trophy. In the end they neednīt have worried as they finished fifth overall with a 5 - 0 victory over host Portugal. It seemed that Wales were favourites to win over newly promoted Portugal However the Portuguese were not without success having beaten Ukraine earlier in the tournament. |
 As
with all their games in the tournament Wales started with allthe possession. They easily controlled the game, only on rare occasions did Portugal venture into the Welsh half. With ten minutes remaining of the first half Dave Griffiths got his first goal of the tournament and by the end of the half it was Wales that looked the sharper and certainly did not look like a side that was playing their fifth game in a week. Ten minutes into the second half and Andy Seiman converted a short corner with an excellent flick that was deflected down off the keepers glove. |
 Moments
later Portugalīs Carlos Silva, having already been given a green and
a yellow card, got a another yellow card for stick tackling and was
subsequently red carded. The game was delayed some 5 minutes as he
was escorted fromthe ground. Tiredness was a real issue and with Wales dominating the play the Portuguese were chasing the ball and now down to ten men. Four minutes later Ollie Cooper got his fifth of the tournament and in the last ten minutes Matt Ruxton and Andy Cornick both got on the score sheet. A comfortable win at the end of he tournament means Wales finish fifth and will have two years to build for another assault to the A division. A number of new young players have seen international duty in this campaign and it is clear that Wales have quality players to meet the challenge. |
| Click on images to see larger picture. |
All photography by Magic Moments
