England defeats Black Sticks Men by 3-1 in their final pool match at London Cup
The reigning European Champions, England defeated the Black Sticks Men by 3-1 in their final pool match at the London Cup, which was played at University of Westminster Quintin Hogg Sports Grounds in Chiswick, London, England on Friday, July 15.
The English athletes dominated the game from the start to the end, where they scored two goals in the first and one goal in the second half, while the Kiwis scored their solitary goal in the second half.
The first half started with on a high note from England, when they made early strike. Although the English team added great pressure on the Kiwis, yet they had to wait until the 17th minute to open their account, when Richard Mantell scored the
opener on a penalty-corner. England continued to play with the similar flow and scored their second goal six minutes before the interval, when Adam Dixon made wonderful strike on open play in the 29th minute. First half ended at 2-0 to England.
In the second half, the Kiwis made the equaliser just six minutes after the start of the play, a wonderful field goal by Nick Wilson. However the English team held their nerves and it was in the 67th minute, when Rob Moore scored the final goal
of the match which stood same until the end.
“I think we have played better games in the tournament, it wasn’t our best performance today. I guess we had the luxury of playing our extended squad and testing combinations, because we’re in the final. But we still have to make sure our game is sharper
if we want to win this tournament,” Shane McLeod, coach of the New Zealand’s Black Sticks Men stated after the match.
The English coach looked very delighted over the result and viewed that it will be helpful for the team in regard of the European Championship preparation in Germany.
“The result means that we are redressing the balance of the appalling performance against Belgium. I think we played pretty well tonight, we were a bit low in confidence and our touch was a bit off. It was a bit nerve-wracking in some places, but we played
well. It shows that we are a high quality team,” Jason Lee, the head coach of the English side who was very disappointed at their defeat against Belgium in their first match, stated pleasingly after the victory.
The Kiwis will compete South Korea in the final of the event which will be played today on July 16.
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