There was the spin and the scoop inside the post. Then the high fist pump before the moment dawned and Hollie Pearne-Webb let loose with a leap, dropped stick and team-mate invasion.
She will of course be remembered for that dramatic shoot-out at the Rio Olympics, less so for the barrage of Dutch attacks that Pearne-Webb and Co repelled over 60 minutes on that sultry Friday evening which delayed the 10 O’Clock news.
Sixteen years earlier, a then eight-year-old Pearne-Webb had been inspired to play hockey having watched Kate Richardson-Walsh, her future captain, at the Sydney Games. Now here were the two players gleaning with gold.
Early the next morning, the bleary-eyed British Olympic champion told a small group of reporters that she had been one of nine possible shooters and “didn’t know I was going to be taking it.”
Pearne-Webb then admitted to “blocking everything out” as GB and coach Danny Kerry delivered the Netherlands’ first Olympic defeat since 2004.
Next year will mark 10 years since GB’s gold, but Pearne-Webb, 34, won’t be playing in red. On Monday she announced her retirement from hockey, leaving Lilly Owsley as the sole remaining Team GB star still playing.
Pearne-Webb said: “What started as a dream when I was just eight years old — to one day play for my country at the Olympics — became a journey that’s been greater than anything I could have imagined.”
She made her debut in 2013 after the London Olympic cycle. Her game, honed as a junior at Belper HC, had also been shaped by the late Craig Keegan, who gave her “quicker hands, quicker feet”.
“It became my super strength and he just had the belief in you as an individual,” she once told THP in an interview, recalling her days at high performance sessions in Sheffield.
Pearne-Webb wore those attributes with some aplomb as her stock rose on the international scene and she produced stand-out tournament performances as a defender.
She took over from Alex Danson as captain and led the team for six years, including Tokyo bronze, a second successive Olympic medal in Mark Hager’s last tournament as coach, and then 2022 Commonwealth Games gold.
The graft of playing elite sport alongside a career – she is also a qualified accountant – has also presented some emotional challenges leading her country.
In between successes there were some tough hurdles to negotiate, notably at EuroHockey and World Cups, where England have experienced several below-par performances and chastening Dutch defeats.
Injuries also curtailed her club commitments in recent years as a Surbiton and Wimbledon player and her field time restricted to the international arena.
Yet, after a 12-year-career, Pearne-Webb accrued 274 combined caps for England and GB in all, her final game coming in the quarter-final defeat to the Dutch at Paris 2024 as Team GB went for a hat-trick of Olympic medals.
“One of the greatest honours has been leading England and Great Britain over the past six years. Captaining this team at two Olympic Games and a home Commonwealth Games has been an immense privilege,” she added.
“I hope many young people are inspired to pick up a stick and fall in love with our amazing sport. Hockey has shown me that anything is possible — and I’ll forever be thankful for that.
England and GB Hockey women’s head coach David Ralph said: “Hollie has been instrumental and at the heart of England’s and Great Britain’s successes over the last decade, including that unforgettable moment when she scored the Olympic gold medal winning shootout in that memorable night in Rio.
“Hollie was an excellent, incredibly intelligent defender who possessed a great passing ability and was always able to perform consistently and at an incredibly high level.”
One that made her a Commonwealth, European and Olympic champion.
A great player, Captain and such a lovely lady. The Hinch family wish her every success for the future.