Hockey stars Jacob Draper and Rupert Shipperley notch second straight win

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Jacob Draper and Rupert Shipperley helped Team GB’s men’s hockey side beat Canada to make it two wins from two at the Olympic Games but it was a performance with more questions than answers.

With their opening matches in Pool B coming against lower-ranked South Africa and Canada, Team GB – including Cwmbran pair Draper and Shipperley – have put six points on the board but have laboured to back-to-back 3-1 victories.

At the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo on Monday, they were being held 0-0 at half-time but two second-half goals from Liam Ansell and one from Sam Ward ensured victory, despite Canadian resilience.

With four of the six teams from Pool B reaching the quarter-finals, Team GB’s place in the knockout stages is already looking secure but with much trickier tests against Germany, Netherlands and Belgium to come, double goalscorer Ansell is adamant they won’t be resting on their laurels.

“We’re always trying to improve – we’ll look back at this game and see what we can improve straight away for tomorrow [against Germany],” explained Ansell, whose Team GB exploits in Tokyo will be broadcast live on Eurosport and discovery+.

“In these tournaments, games come thick and fast – there’s always another game the next day, so we’re straight into recovery and prepping for Germany now.

“We’ve had a great block of training coming into this and we performed well in tournaments leading up to this, so we’ve got the confidence and the self-belief. It’s just about delivering on the pitch now.

“There’ll be stuff we can improve on over the long-term. If you stay still in this game, you’ll start going down the world rankings and as a team we’re trying to push forward, so we know our next three games are against three of the best teams in the world [Germany, Netherlands and Belgium].

“It’s why we play the sport – we want to test ourselves against the best and I’m looking forward to it.”

A frustrating first half saw Team GB denied by the woodwork and the impressive reflexes of Canada goalkeeper Antoni Kindler.

Three penalty corners came and went, including Phil Roper striking the bar, while Ward hit the foot of the post after a lightning breakaway and Kindler brilliantly parried Chris Griffiths’ half-volley after diving to his left.

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But the breakthrough finally came early in the third period as Ward attracted two defenders and the keeper, before cleverly deflecting the ball to Ansell in the middle of the D for the simple finish.

Ward got a goal himself before the end of the third quarter when he drove a penalty corner into the left corner of the net and although Floris van Son rifled home from Canada’s first real attack of the game midway through the fourth, Ansell’s tap-in four minutes from time sealed a 3-1 triumph.

And even though they now have margin for error in their quest to reach the quarter-finals, Ansell insists Team GB aren’t planning on using it.

“We want to win every game – you never want to lose or draw, you go out to win,” he added. “Our focus is on the next three games – they’re tough opponents but we’ve beaten them in the past and we want to do that again.

“We want to finish top of the group and keep that momentum going.”

Stream every unmissable moment of Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 live on discovery+, The Streaming Home of the Olympics.

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