Netherlands pip Argentina 2-0 to retain title

Agencies/London

Netherlands’ players celebrate beating Argentina in the women’s hockey final in London yesterday

The Netherlands retained their women’s Olympic field hockey title with a 2-0 win over world champion Argentina at Riverbank Arena yesterday.The Dutch scored off two second-half penalty corners to join Australia as the only three-time Olympic champions.The final was riveting until Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel scored from a rebound of Eva de Goede’s corner in the 40th minute. Then the Dutch turned rampant, and after captain Maartje Paumen had a corner saved, she didn’t miss the next chance a minute later in the 54th. Her 14th Olympic goal and third in London gave her sole possession of the overall record.The two goals took the air out of the Argentines, who were seeking their first gold medal.Meanwhile Great Britain, inspired by skipper Kate Walsh who broke her jaw just a week ago, beat New Zealand 3-1 to earn an Olympic bronze medal, something they last achieved 20 years ago in Barcelona. It did however take a long time to break down the well-ordered and fiercely motivated Kiwis who were as close to a women’s Olympic hockey medal as they have ever been and already certain of their best finish. The crucial phase of the match began 10 minutes into the second half, when Great Britain began to make their extra pressure count, and during which they scored three goals in 17 minutes. All of them came from penalty corners, as befitting a team with the best conversion rate in the tournament, of more than 40 percent.  And all of them were taken by Walsh, who fractured her jaw last week and yet came back to play an influential part. “I don’t think it will hit me what a crazy fortnight it’s been until a few weeks’ time,” Walsh said.  “We were heart-broken after the semi-final (with a 2-1 loss to Argentina) and vowed we would not go away from here empty-handed. “The result was that we played our best game of the tournament by miles. It’s amazing.” Walsh also claimed that fitness was a factor in their being able to break down the Kiwi defence more often in the last quarter of the game, though also important was scoring the first goal, which enabled the under-pressure home team to play with more freedom.