The sense of deja vu was palpable when Suffolk stars Harry Martin and George Pinner followed the former’s sister Hannah in securing a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, writes Phil Jones.
Both England’s men’s and women’s sides suffered just one loss in their pool, both to India and both by a single goal having earlier taken the lead.
Both were knocked out at the semi-final stage by Antipodean opponents and both returned a to secure the bronze medal, both against India.
There were mixed emotions for all, frustration at missing out on a shot at the gold but elation at not leaving the Gold Coast empty handed.
And for Ipswich’s Harry, at least, he was struggling to comprehend the mixed feelings.
“I don’t know whether it’s joy or relief,” said the midfielder after beating India. “It was a really strange 24 hours or so.
“It was so gutting to lose to Australia so that was huge for us to come out and put in a performance.
“We wanted to be in that final more than anything and it’s great to win the bronze but it is still tinged with a bit of ‘what could have been’.
“The fact we can bring something back for those back home means the world.”
Pinner took a seat on the bench for the bronze medal match but his influence was still felt as one of the three-strong captaincy group in the men’s side.
Harry’s sister Hannah was part of the women’s team that struck six past India - three coming from Sophie Bray - to secure their bronze.
And she hopes the team can carry the momentum from that performance into the home World Cup this summer.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic, it was a brilliant team performance and it was great to finish with a bronze medal,” she said.
“We know they are good, we know they are strong and we know what their strengths are but we played to our game plan, stuck to it.
“I’ve absolutely loved the experience of the Games.”
- npower is the Official Partner of Team England and is giving our athletes the power of support by recording a brand new version of their anthem, Jerusalem. To listen to the track visit npower.com/teamengland
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