Going for gold!

PLENTY TO SMILE ABOUT . . . Nicola White and mum Gill after semi-final victory

NICOLA White will fulfil a lifelong dream by going for gold for Team GB in the Olympic women's hockey final.

A 3-0 defeat of New Zealand last night has landed the Oldham girl a shot at the ultimate prize in Rio tomorrow (9pm).

Holland stand in the way of a stunning and unprecedented gold medal for Team GB, with the side already achieving their best performance in Olympic hockey history.

"Nicola and the girls have worked so hard for this moment and I know they will be focused and prepared for the biggest match of their lives," said Shaw-born Nicola's mum Gill.

'DREAM'

"For Nicola this is certainly a dream come true. Let's hope they make it eight wins in a row and bring that gold medal home.

"To see my daughter walk out onto the pitch in the final will be very emotional and one to remember."

Britain's women surpassed bronze medal successes, at Barcelona 24 years ago and London 2012, thanks to an Alex Danson double and Helen Richardson-Walsh's penalty strike against New Zealand.

Kate Richardson-Walsh's team have now matched the likes of Sean Kerly, Ian Taylor and Paul Barber, who reached the men's Olympic final at Seoul in 1988.

And they will want to emulate the most famous team British hockey has seen by winning gold, albeit against a Dutch side seeking a hat-trick of Olympic titles.

But they got there the hard way, seeing Crista Cullen and Georgie Twigg go off after suffering blows to the head, then Helen Richardson-Welsh limped away immediately after rifling her penalty home as Britain secured a seventh successive win of the tournament.

The early exchanges were predictably cagey, with a scrappy opening quarter producing few clear-cut chances, but Britain broke the deadlock seven minutes before half-time.

Cullen saw a penalty corner shot well saved, but Danson reacted sharply and forced home the rebound.

Britain lost Cullen early in the third quarter after she collided with a New Zealand player and appeared to take an accidental elbow blow in the head and she was soon followed by team-mate Twigg, who fell to the ground after the ball deflected off a New Zealand stick and caught her flush in the face.

They were two undoubted blows for Britain, but Helen Richardson-Walsh was then brought down by Kayla Whitelock and she stroked the ball home to double Britain's advantage.

And with the clock ticking down, Danson struck home another penalty and Britain could celebrate reaching the Olympic final.

Cullen, who had stitches in her forehead, said: "Playing the New Zealanders, it is always going to be a physical battle.

STITCHES
"I've got a few stitches, but I've no idea how many. I was just telling him (medic) to hurry up because my team needed me.

"It's a good win, and now we move forward to the final.

"We have worked really hard on our culture, trying to create a winning mentality, and we have a huge amount of attacking threat, which we have demonstrated through numerous scorers in this tournament.

"To fight for an Olympic medal is what gets us up every morning, let alone to be in a gold medal match."