Lincolnshire aces help Team GB book their place in hockey final

Shona McCallin, Hannah Macleod, Crista Cullen and Georgie Twigg all featured in last night’s semi-final against New Zealand.

Alex Danson scored twice and Helen Richardson-Walsh was also on target in a display which owed as much to stoic defence as it did clinical finishing.

Team GB will now face the Netherlands - who beat Germany on penalties - in the gold medal match tomorrow night (9pm), screened live on BBC One.

Boston-born Cullen, who recently came out of retirement from the sport, and Lincoln’s Georgie Twigg both went through the pain barrier for their team.

A knee to the head saw Cullen receive stitches while Lincoln’s Twigg needed treatment after taking a ball to the chin.

Cullen said: “I took a knee to the face in the defensive D but I had some stitches, got checked out by the medical staff and came back on the pitch so I’m fine.

“This is what made me come back after four years of the disappointment of replaying the last semi-final (at London 2012).

“To come out here and be as clinical as we were is a tribute to this team and I’m just very proud of how we performed.

“We’ve got a numerous attacking threat now.

“It’s difficult to cover everything and people are taking their chances and that shows in our results.

“We’ve got an incredibly dogged defensive side and we’re really resilient so to score against is hard.

“If they’re not going in one end, and we’re putting them in the other it works out for us.”

Former Oakham School student Cullen, Twigg and Macleod, also from Boston, were part of the squad which won bronze at London 2012.

Rio 2016 is the first Olympics for McCallin, who comes from Dry Doddington.