Korea clobber England 5-4 in London Cup – Men Four-Nation Tournament
The three goals from Nam Yong Lee were more than enough to sink the men’s hockey team of England BY 5-4 in the second match of the London Cup being held at the University of Westminster Sports Grounds in Chiswick, London.
Jason Lee, the Head Coach of the English Team, while speaking to the media expressed satisfaction despite failing to reach the finals of the home-organised tournament. In his views, the English team displayed much improved performance as compared to the
first one. However, he was quite bewildered over the defeat.
He added, “I think it's a performance which we can build on, compared to the first performance against Belgium, which I thought had an awful lot of limitations in how we approached it and how we actually played. I thought it was a strong performance tonight
and on a normal night one I'd expect us to win.”
It was a shocking defeat for England, as they already faced a defeat from a low-ranked Belgium in the first fixture of the tournament. A couple of goals from English skipper, Barry Middleton, could not save them from the defeat
The English side commenced the game in an organised way and carried out attacks against Korea in the first quarter of the match. Before receiving first short-corner of the match, Mark Pearn made a couple of dangerous penetrations into the 25-yard line of
Korea, but all in vain. The maiden penalty-corner also failed to serve them and they missed a great chance.
In a counter-offence, Nam Yong Lee attempted to take the ball at the top of the circle, but it was blocked by Iain Lewers.
In the 12th minute of the match, Jonty Clarke received a pass from Simon Mantell on the left-flank and tactically chipped in the cage. The Korean goalie did not have a chance to stop the ball at any occasion.
After missing a few opportunities, Nam Yong Lee managed to take the ball at the top of the circle, volleyed a fast drive into the cage and levelled the score at 1-1. But the tie-up could not last for long time, as Barry Middleton marked his first goal of
the day in the 25th minute and regained the lead. In the 28th minute, Nam Yong Lee added his second goal and had it all even at two-each.
With five minutes into the second half, Pearn managed a score from the field and put England ahead onto the score-board. However, Nam Yong Lee added another and levelled the score at 2-2.
The second goal of Middleton in the 48th minute was countered by a penalty-conversion from Korean Jong Hyun Jang in the 56th minute. With three minutes into the time-completion, Hyo Sik You notched a goal and sealed the victory for
Korea at 5-4.
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