Picture: England's third overtime penalty corner, but the ball is stopped on the line.England crashed out of a place in the Indoor World Cup semi finals this afternoon, but they did it in style. Playing the European Champions, Austria, they found themselves under the cosh early on, going two behind to goals in open play by Benjamin Stanzl and Michael Korper within ten minutes. But although England were parked in their own half for most of the first 20 minutes, the Austrians looked nervous and conceded a penalty stroke from an England breakaway, which was converted by Simon Mantell.
Austria opened up the lead further when Korper scored his second, this time from a corner, but James Tindall's pulled on back from an England corner to restore the margin.
The game ended in an exciting climax. England only had to draw to qualify for the semi-finals, and series of penalty corners kept hope alive. There were several appeals for penalty strokes but eventually the Austrians were able to clear the ball out of defence and the game ended.
Final score 3-2 to Austria. England now play to decide the fifth place. Their performance this afternoon, in a tournament which was unfamiliar territory indoors, shows that England's rise in recent years is happening both indoors and out. Against an indoor side of Austria's experience, a good result.
