Photo: Barry Middleton celebrates his sixth minute goal against Iran.If you ask England's indoor coach Andy Halliday a stupid question he tends to frown before answering it. I know this from experience. But when I asked him, after today's match against Iran, if he felt the performance against the USA yesterday was a blessing in disguise, I did not detect a frown.
The Iranians were dangerous from the off, with a build up from the back which was mostly very direct, and quite likely to cause disarray in teams more used to a European style. Not only did England weather the storm, but they let the wind fill their sails and, within the first ten minutes, Richard Mantell, Barry Middleton and Simon Mantell had each found the net from open play.
Richard Mantell added a penalty corner conversion before half time, and second half goals from Middleton and Rob Moore took the tally to 6-0. Quite what the causes of what happened next were is hard to say, but England conceded a goal and shortly afterwards skipper Barry Middleton was sent to the naughty seat with a yellow card. Three goals in as many minutes never looked like overturning England's lead, but no doubt there will be a dressing room post mortem about the sudden collapse of the side after taking such an impressive lead.
Some of the lessons of the match against the USA were clearly learnt, although they seem to be forgotten by the closing minutes of the match. But a win is a win, and 6-4 gives England three points and a possibility of reaching the semis. They play the Austrians tomorrow.
