Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Golden girl to return ‘home’
‘This is not the same old Kent. In previous years we might well have lost’
Olympic champion Susannah Townsend has celebrated her return to action by agreeing a return to ‘home’ club Canterbury, writes Alex Hoad. The 27-year-old Rio golden girl has spent nine months recovering from knee surgery in the wake of Teamgb’s Olympic triumph but made her comeback for England in matches with Spain at the end of last month. While still not up to speed, last weekend she continued her comeback in the Investec internationals in front of 5,000 partisan fans at the Olympic Park in London as England lost against Argentina on Saturday and the Netherlands on Sunday. She said: “After the past nine months it’s just amazing to be able to pick up a stick and go out there and play with my mates again. “I’m pretty happy with how it went. I am a couple of weeks away from being properly back – that will come from match practice and getting my hockey brain back up to speed.” Townsend signed for Belgian club La Gantoise last summer but her spell was blighted by the knee surgery. She said: “I have registered back at Canterbury – I’m a Canterbury girl, I have grown up at the club and it means a lot to me. I will play as much as I can. “The support staff and I will monitor my knee and it might be that they tell me to rest it one week or another, as it’s a three-and-a-half year process towards getting me ready for the next Olympics. “I’ve always said, ‘why would anyone want to win just one gold medal?’” wanted to be the person there at the end and after I went off I was not expecting it to be honest but they showed great character.
“Being unbeaten is a nice to have on your record and it’s nice to see the pride in the team at keeping that run going.
“It’s one thing to have it in the dressing room but it’s nice for people outside the group to see that things are different – we are a decent side and this is not the same old Kent.
“In previous years we might well have lost the game. We have learned a lot in the last couple of years and are slowly reaping the rewards.
“I know it was a draw but it felt a bit like a win. We were second best for a lot of that game. Everyone is focused on the prize (promotion) and those points could end up being important.”