Dutch sneak onto the podium

Tears mixed with sweat trickling down his cheeks,Ashley Jackson sat on the pitch holding his head in his hands,wondering what went wrong....

Tears mixed with sweat trickling down his cheeks,Ashley Jackson sat on the pitch holding his head in his hands,wondering what went wrong. He had come off the bench to score two goals as England went 3-1 up at half-time against The Netherlands. By the time the referee blew the whistle and the entire team slumped to the ground drained out emotionally more than physically the Dutch had staged a spectacular turnaround to snatch the bronze medal with a 4-3 victory.

When reality started to sink in,Jackson finally gathered himself and got up,dragging his feet and stick back into the locker room. One player who didnt want to leave the pitch was Guus Vogels. The Dutch goalkeeper,Jacksons team mate at the HGC club,was taking the victory lap along with the team,savouring every moment after playing the last match of his illustrious career. There might have been a few regrets he would never win a World Cup,to cite one but it didnt show on his face as he basked as much in the fading sunlight as in the glory of one last triumph.

I know I am retiring without a World Cup title,but this win takes away some of the pain. Its been a great career. Ive loved the game all through. I still do. But I guess this is it for me, said Vogels.

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For a good 35 minutes though,it didnt look like Vogels would have a grand farewell. England were off the blocks in style,creating chances aplenty. However,the Netherlands opened the scoring in the 22nd minute,with veteran Teun de Nooijer giving finishing touches to a brilliant effort by Robert van der Horst. The European champions drew parity in the very next minute,with a field goal from Alastair Brogdon. The England coach sending Jackson in turned out to be a masterly move,as the teams top scorer in the tournament converted two penalty corners in a space of three minutes to put his side firmly in command of the match.

The Dutch,however,emerged a completely different unit after the break. I just told my players to stop thinking and start playing, said Dutch coach Michel Heuvel.

The advice worked wonders. The Netherlands pulled one back when Taeke Taekema scored off a penalty corner in the 48th minute. That changed the colour of the game and two more goals in the 55th and 67th minute sealed the match for the three-time champions.

We were disappointed not to have reached the final but we are happy that we won today for Guus (Vogels), said Nooijer.