England finish top of pool A at Hero Hockey World League Final

13 January 2014, New Delhi: England retained their unbeaten record at the Hero Hockey World League Final in New Delhi when notching up their third victory in this competition thanks to a solid 5-1 win over New Zealand leaving them top of pool A.

New Zealand had the first promising scoring opportunity in this match when Phil Burrows won the ball in the circle and his shot missed the net by centimetres.

Both teams played expansive and open hockey but solid defending resulted in few shots on goal in the opening 25 minutes.

The competitors from both sides worked hard in all areas of the pitch to gain valuable possession and at the end of the first half England had a slight advantage. Bobby Crutchley’s team turned this possession into a goal when Ashley Jackson (30’) scored from his team’s second penalty corner.

In the second half England goalkeeper George Pinner was called into action very quickly but against the run of play the world No 4 team doubled their lead. Jackson (44’) flicked in another penalty corner making him joint top scorer in the Hero Hockey World League Final with three goals.

He said that he did not expect to stay as top scorer for long: “Tom Boon will soon overtake me, he is a specialist penalty corner taker.” Jackson added that, despite winning all three pool games, the team still made too many mistakes.

The room on the pitch was exploited by England when Mark Gleghorne (50’) scored from another penalty corner extending the lead. The Black Sticks’ consolation goal came from a penalty corner converted by Hugo Inglis (57’). “Hope came back but unfortunately we didn’t add another one”, Burrows said.

Finally, Tom Carson (67’) and Barry Middleton (70’) sealed the victory by scoring the only two field goals in this match. “This is a very disappointing result. We gave up at the end and this is not what we should have done”, Burrows said.

Speaking on the win, Bobby Crutchley, Coach, England said “Team played a fantastic game. Initially there was some lack of coordination but the players came back very well and showed the utmost quality in the second half. Winning matches with such huge difference is always a delight. Team is all boosted up for its upcoming matches of the tournament.”

Colin Batch, Coach, New Zealand said “We are disappointed with the way we played today.  Our team played well in the initial 20 minutes but soon after we lost the momentum. Team was bad at defence which costs us in today’s game. England played very well disciplined game. Further in the league we need to stick to the game plan for 70 minutes and play in a planned manner.”

Follow the action on the FIH event site at http://events.fih.ch/new/competition/261