Hockey: Showpiece turns into farce

The teams marched on to the sound of Carl Orff's tumultuous Carmina Burana, but the action in the women's hockey final easily eclipsed the demented fanfare, with extraordinary scenes at the Belle Vue complex yesterday. With the teams playing extra-time after finishing 2-2, India's winning golden goal, in the dying seconds of the first half, was disallowed, because the hooter had sounded, and then after heated Indian protests, it was controversially reinstated.

The New Zealand umpire, Lyn Farrell, had indicated that time was up before the Indian shot had crossed the line, but after consulting pitch-side officials, she changed her decision.

The England players stood in disbelief after the goal was allowed to stand, with the Indian coach, Gurdial Bhangu, storming around the pitch in celebration to make sure that the decision held. It was a shameful and bitter ending to a contest of stomach-churning tension, and it was particularly harsh on England, not just because they had clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit, but also because they had the vast majority of possession and play.

The England management immediately lodged a protest, with the team staying out on the pitch, ready to play on, but after nearly an hour of argument behind closed doors, the technical delegate confirmed the goal as legitimate, because time must be prolonged until a penalty corner, and its follow-up, is complete.

Immediately, England launched another appeal, on the basis that the players had stopped defending when they heard the hooter and saw the umpire's "no goal" gesture. Belatedly, nearly an hour and a half after the match had finished, news filtered through that England had decided to withdraw their appeal, and settle for the silver medal.

To supportive cheers from the crowd, who had stayed on in the hope of a replay, or further clarification, the England coach Tricia Heberle led her team out to the podium for the medal ceremony. Despite this concession, the whole sorry business had rendered the showpiece final a common farce.

"The umpire made a grave mistake", insisted a senior Indian hockey official. "She should have known the rule, and allowed the goal." Even so, this was something utterly beyond sport with confused umpires, sheer tension and unclear rules conspiring to deliver bathos.

Bizarrely, all the omens for England had been good ones coming into this final. They had not lost to India in 13 previous encounters, and their defeat of Australia had been endorsed by the "Hockeyroos" 4-3 victory over New Zealand in the bronze medal play-off.

England had warmed up to the sound of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Till You've Got Enough", which seemed deliberate given that the team employs a sports psychologist. The lyric espoused the philosophy of the Australian-born Heberle. "Empowerment, process, routine, self-determination and flexibility" were cited as the key elements of her coaching credo. She will add "luck" to this now.

The England players were said to have lunched on pasta with tomato sauce, but it looked as though a bucket of raw meat had been passed around the dressing-room, such was the ferocity of their opening play. They were urged on by a foot-stomping crowd and for those who recall hockey internationals at Wembley, with a banshee of screeching from 60,000 teenage girls and naughty St Trinian's-style banners, this was a miniature version.

As England crunched into tackles ­ Jane Smith put one in that would have done justice to Tommy Smith ­ and the crowd dissolved into a Mancunian wave, it seemed that England must score.

But there was so much emotion as England pressed India that you couldn't help feeling that the storm might blow itself out. So it proved, with India scoring from only their second clear chance.

It looked as though England had fallen into a classic elephant trap, and soon, a late change of decision by the second umpire gifted India another goal. England fought back bravely to level, but the details will just be statistics, with the real heartache left unmeasured.