PARIS (Reuters) -Second-ranked Britain avoided an upset by South Africa in the Olympic hockey tournament as a last-gasp goal off a set piece forced a 2-2 draw with South Africa in Pool A on Sunday.
Britain dominated possession but swift counter-attacks by the 13th-ranked South Africans rocked them on their heels twice and nearly cost the fancied side points in a tight group.
“I thought we deserved at least a point, if not three. I thought the corner we executed (that tied the game) was pretty much on the money,” said Britain’s captain David Ames.
“But really good game, South Africa played pretty well. They sat really deep and made it so difficult for us, which we thought might happen given the ranking points difference. I’m happy with a point and to come back the way we did,” he said.
South Africa’s opening scorer Andrew Hobson added: “Emotions are high but we feel like we deserve three points.
“We’ve got a rest day tomorrow and then we’ve got to just keep our momentum going. We can’t let one result determine the rest of our tournament.”
The top ranked Netherlands thrashed hosts France 4-0 in the other Pool A game and are top on six points. Spain rebounded from Saturday’s 4-0 defeat by Britain, who are second on four points, to win 2-0 against recent World Cup winners Germany.
Reigning champions Belgium beat New Zealand 2-1 in the lone Pool B game to top the table on six points, although second-placed India and Australia in third can move level with them by beating Argentina and Ireland respectively on Monday.
New Zealand have now had two losses to start the tournament, which leaves them bottom of Pool B with three games to go.
Four of the six teams will advance from each pool to the knockout rounds starting on Sunday.
Early matches were closer on Sunday than on the opening day, with all but one game being decided by a single goal apart from the Germany women’s team’s 2-0 victory against Japan.
In other women’s matches, Australia beat South Africa 2-1 while Spain downed Britain and Belgium defeated China by the same scoreline.
(Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Alison Williams and Ken Ferris)
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