It was a night of disappointment for Ben Hawes of Wimbledon Hockey Club as Great Britain were thrashed 9-2 by Holland in the Olympic hockey semi-final.
The men in orange dominated the match from the first to the last, giving Great Britain a lesson in the art of fast-moving, free-flowing and deadly hockey.
Ashley Jackson and Surbiton’s Rob Moore scored Great Britain’s consolation goals, and after the match there was no hiding from the cold truth of a bad night.
“It has taken a lot of hard work over many years to get to this semi-final and to lose like that is bitterly disappointing,” Hawes said. “At the end of the day we only have ourselves to blame.
“They certainly ran us hard in the first half and once we were chasing the game we were on hiding to nothing.”
He added: “I don’t know what to feel at the moment. We need to spend a bit of time looking at ourselves as a team, have some honest conversations and evaluations of ourselves and make sure we come back against Australia. But that is easy to say.”
Great Britain will now play off against Australia for the bronze on Saturday.
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