West Bromwich Albion blog and general bloggy sort of ranting. *read with a Black Country accent*
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Paralympics day 6 review
West Bromwich Albion's blind footballer Darren Harris crashed out of medal contention with the GB men's 5-a-side team as they lost to Iran 1-0.
The team needed to win by two clear goals to progress but, despite having numerous chances, failed to covert any.
It was a different football tournament but the same outcome. However resilient, hardworking and filled with good play, for England penalties are, and forever will be, their undoing.
I'm not here saying that the blind 5-a-side football team should be bagging these penalties.
They're up against a goalkeeper with full sight. It's incredible that they score any.
But, Iran scored one of theirs and we didn't score ours.
Great Britain had four penalty attempts, with one missed by 41-year-old talismanic captain Dave Clarke and three by penalty specialist Dan English.
The match was fraught with chances, too. Captain, talisman, in his swan-song tournament, Dave Clarke captained the side with intent and probing runs - drawing great saves from Iran's goalkeeper, but, crucially, missing finding the net.
Overall, it was a great show from the lads and did wonders for promoting the sport.
But, as we know all too well, nothing quite promotes a sport like a title, a medal - gold, preferably - and that was all that was lacking from Clarke's men.
In the pool
As ever the 50m of water perched next to the Olympic Stadium delivered for Britain's medal tally.
Walsall's Ellie Simmonds was, again, one of the super swimmers to brandish a medal at the end of the night.
Only bronze this time but this was her weakest event and to grab a bronze in the 50m Freestyle shows that she's a woman with a monstrous engine - although it's more suited to longer distances.
And former professional swimmer Heather Frederiksen took the gold in the 100m backstroke.
Back in the stadium
One of the unsung talisman of the games is taking the track by storm.
David Weir - wheelchair racer supreme - took his second gold in the 1500m. Weir is a down-to-earth London boy who's skipped the limelight for training and it's paying off sensationally.
The race was a compact group, with favourites bunched at the top, playing a game of box-in cat and mouse.
Then the bell which signifies the last lap acted as a red rag to a bull and Weir catapulted, accelerating himself into the lead - where no one could catch him.
Supposedly, climbing hills is like continually bench pressing your own body weight. Well, there's no hills in the Olympic Stadium but there are other athletes and Weir's marathon racing provided him with the acceleration that is simply too much for the field.
Great work, Dave.
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