## 1 Introduction  
Field hockey is an intermittent sport where hockey players perform repeated actions such as changes of direction, dribbles, sprints, accelerations, decelerations and body impacts alternating high and moderate with low intensity efforts [1]. During an official field hockey match, consisting of four quarters of fifteen minutes each, hockey players cover around 6000-8000 m [2; 3] primarily at low and medium intensities, with high-intensity efforts (>19 km/h\({}^{-1}\)) making up around 6% of the total playing time [2]. Previous studies have reported an average of 14 to 48 injuries per 1000 h attributed to the high physical demands of this sport [4; 5]. Specifically, most of these field hockey injuries have been reported in the lower limbs, especially in the thigh and groin [6], with the hamstring strain injury being the most frequent muscle injury (32%) [4], followed by the groin injury (10%) [6]. Consequently, identification of the risk factors associated with groin and/or hamstring injury occurrence is essential.  
In this sense, previous studies in different intermittent sports such as football [7], tennis [8] and ice hockey [9], have identified several modifiable intrinsic risk factors as causing an increased likelihood of developing groin and hamstring injuries. Among them, a weakness in the isometric adductor strength (ADD) [7,10] and lower adduction/abduction strength ratio (ADD/ABD) [9] have been associated with a higher risk of sustained groin injuries, while a lower hamstring strength [11, 12, 13], decreased range of hip flexion [14] and ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) have been associated with hamstring strain injuries [15]. However, some conflicting results have been found in literature regarding these factors [16, 17, 18]. Notably, most researches have investigated these risk factors before the commencement of the season or in off-season situations [19]. However, the ability to capture fluctuations in ROM and/or strength profile in-season, specifically in response to match-play, has not been studied [19].  
Similar to other intermittent sports, field hockey players reported a higher incidence of injuries during matches compared to training [6] probably due to the higher intensity reported in matches versus training, and the appearance of fatigue [20,21]. It is well known that there is a decrement of lower limbs' power performance after match-play, and this measure is one of the potential factors in injury causation in intermittent sport [22]. Appearance of fatigue is known to reduce sports performance through reduced muscle strength, neuromuscular control and ROM [22]. In this line, the impact of match-play on ADD, ABD, hamstring strength and ROM during hip flexion and ankle dorsiflexion has been studied recently in several sports such as tennis, football and basketball [19, 23, 24, 25]; however, to the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no information regarding this effect in field hockey. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the acute effect of hockey match-play on several risk factors such as isometric knee flexion and hip ADD and ABD strength, ADD/ABD strength ratio, passive hip flexion ROM and ankle dorsiflexion ROM and countermovement jump (CMJ) in elite female hockey players.