“I’d given up on my Olympic dream. I was at rock bottom and was going to quit.” Scripts that would flatter the silver screen continue to write themselves in Great Britain’s pursuit of a first men’s hockey medal since the Boys of 1988 struck gold in South Korea.
Lee Morton, a 29-year-old half-back rescued from the international scrap heap and given a new lease of life under the revitalising reign of the head coach Paul Revington, struck two goals in four minutes late on as GB rescued a draw against the Netherlands in a summit meeting between the world’s two best teams in Pool A.
As if that romantic tale wasn’t enough, Morton hails from Glasgow, surely making this the best Scottish Olympics display at this storied venue since Eric Liddell won 400m gold in the Chariots of Fire Games of 1924.
You want more? All his family and friends were here including his brother Craig, who has flown into Paris on a surprise visit from Australia. Lee hasn’t even seen him yet. Perhaps over dinner they can discuss selling the movie rights.
“I’m pretty open about being at a stage where I was going to retire from hockey,” Morton said. “When I last came out of the GB cycle, I kind of thought I’d hit the peak. I was at rock bottom and was going to quit. I stuck with it and to be here with all my family is pretty special.
“I ended up getting an invitation to come back and trial after Tokyo. I thought: ‘You know what, we’ll give it one last chance and see what happens.’ And I just went from there.”
Where GB go from here is anybody’s guess. Relentless positivity has been the hallmark of GB men under Revington’s two-year Bazball-esque reign, but they also showed their gritty side here – call it the wet-Tuesday-night-in-Stoke approach in 32C heat – as the two sides duked it out for the best part of three quarters.
But GB then found themselves behind – Floris Wortelboer’s thumping finish past Ollie Payne before Thijs van Dam doubled the Dutch lead – and it was time for a change in approach. Get the popcorn ready.
One of Revington’s favourite phrases is: “If a man and his dog walk past our training pitch, would they stop?” While it would be hard for passers-by to have watched any of this match – they would have needed to get past a battalion of gendarmes then scaled a 10ft security fence – for those in the stands this was an unmissable finish.
Morton’s first strike came with less than six minutes to play, beating the Dutch keeper Pirmin Blaak at the near post. Then, with 100 seconds left on the clock, came the Hollywood ending: a loose ball from a penalty corner hammered home like a Joe Root cover drive. Cue bedlam.
“Shut the eyes and hope for the best” is how Morton described his thunderous half-volley equaliser. “I’ll be honest about that. The ball just sat up and I just thought I’d give it a whack. It hit off the backboard. What a feeling.”
On the Scottish connection with Liddell, Morton was frank enough to admit he was not familiar with the story. “For me the big one is it’s been 16 years since a Scottish male was at the Olympics for hockey. I can hopefully inspire future generations that we have Scottish athletes for the men’s side every single Olympics.”
Revington’s men have two more matches, against France and Germany, to complete the pool phase, and a rematch with the Dutch may await in the tournament’s business end.
“I think we fancy ourselves against anybody,” said the captain, David Ames, once a football triallist at Chelsea. “We’re not scared any more. We don’t care who we play, what time of day, or how hot it is. We don’t care. As simple as that.”
