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FIH Pro League (men): World champions Belgium win on the home turf against GB

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Rajan Nath
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FIH Pro League (men): World champions Belgium win on the home turf against GB
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Hockey News: John-John Dohmen did it for the World Cup champions and the hosts Belgium in the FIH Pro League 2020 for men on Saturday. Dohmen proved to be the difference between the two teams, though the GB players should feel very proud of their performance. They will, however, regret not making the most of their 11 penalty corner chances, converting just once. publive-image Belgium took the lead with less than two minutes remaining, and it was that old campaigner John-John Dohmen with the strike. Tom Boon's strike took a wicked deflection off the stick off Harry Martin before hitting the crossbar, with John-John Dohmen - who was playing his 396th game for Belgium this evening - on hand to force the ball over the line from close range. That surely was the winning goal.
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Hockey News: John-John Dohmen did it for the World Cup champions and the hosts Belgium in the FIH Pro League 2020 for men on Saturday. When asked what was the difference between the two sides, GB's Tom Sorsby said: "Really small margins, I think. We showed that we can play out there with one of the best teams in the world right now, and those fine details towards the end of the game are the things that are going to turn it. I think we did really well to compete with those guys today, to show that we are at that level. It's just the small margins towards the ends of the games." Also Read | Hockey News, FIH Pro League 2020 (Women): Olympic champions Great Britain win in penalty shoot out against Belgium In the 44th minute, it was hard to tell if he was in the British attacking circle or not, but Belgium's Victor Wegnez had just hit the post. It looked like an attempted pass, but with no Belgian players getting a touch the ball bounced off the post and went away. The scores were leveled in the 42nd minute >after the GB's Jack Waller pounced from close range after a lovely interchange of passes between Alan Forsyth and James Gall, that cut through the Belgian defence. Hockey News: John-John Dohmen did it for the World Cup champions and the hosts Belgium in the FIH Pro League 2020 for men on Saturday. Mid way in the third quarter, Great Britain were fighting back, and had three chances in quick succession. Two went to Alan Forsyth who was denied by GK Loic Van Doren before Liam Ansell blazesd a backhand strike over the bar after an unexpected pass from Arthur Van Doren. Five minutes into the second half, Belgium were trying to move further ahead, putting GB under great pressure with two penalty corners. GB's defence held firm before Phil Roper had a chance on the break but couldn't get his shot away. Tom Boon, who had undoubtedly dominated in this contest, produced a moment of genuine quality. The striker brilliantly collected the ball on his reverse before cracking a snap-shot between goalkeeper and post to re-establish the Belgian lead. GB needed just three minutes to respond, netting a penalty corner at the sixth attempt. It was a really well taken goal by Phil Roper, who slammed his drag-flick into the bottom right corner. Belgium's defence was guilty of not putting on its protective equipment fast enough thus allowing Roper the time he needed to pick his spot.
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Also Read | Hockey news, FIH Pro League: German women complete a double against Belgium In the 27th minute, Belgium won its first penalty corner. The home team maximise the opportunity, with Alexander Hendrickx's drag-flick proving too powerful for GB's man-on-the-line Tom Sorsby, who could only deflect the ball into the roof of the net. Minutes earlier, a GB penalty corner was blocked by the first Belgian runner, with the ball flying up into the air before being controlled by Alan Forsyth. However, he failed to connect with his attempted volley, with umpire Delforge blowing for danger. That was a big chance for Forsyth, who would usually bury an opportunity like that. GB have had five penalty corners against the World champions - they needed to make them count. Hockey News: John-John Dohmen did it for the World Cup champions and the hosts Belgium in the FIH Pro League 2020 for men on Saturday. In the 22nd minute, Denayer returned to the field following his suspension, bringing Belgium back to full strength. However, the momentum had definitely switched into GB's favour – the visitors were having a good spell. At this stage, the rain was coming down heavily. Belgium’s men, the reigning World and European champions, was before the start of the game sitting at the top of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2020 standings, ensuring that bottom of the table GB will have to be at its very best if it wanted to claim positive results against the top ranked team in world hockey. educareThe Red Lions were aiming for maximum points against the visitors before their upcoming Low Countries derby match against the Netherlands – who are second in the standings – in Brussels on Wednesday (November 4). -PTC News-
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