GB hockey captain apologises after rout

Having gone in at half-time 4-1 down, they came out on the attack after the break but when they did not make an early breakthrough, the Dutch began to pick holes in their shape. In an eight-minute spell from the 44th minute the world No. 3 team scored four times and that prompted something of a meltdown among the hosts. Almost every time Holland entered the circle, they scored.

Ashley Jackson and Rob Moore scored GB’s goals to make it 2-1 and 9-2 but the Dutch were much sharper and Roderick Weusthof and Billy Bakker both scored hat-tricks, with other goals coming from Teun de Nooijer, Mink van der Weerden and Floris Evers.

When asked what he would like to say at the post-match press conference, Middleton said: “Probably sorry to start with. The disappointing thing was we know that wasn’t who we are. That wasn’t really us. It is hard to explain why. With how big the game was that is what makes it so hard to take.”