England’s men got off to a winning start in their campaign to secure themselves a place in the World Cup in Monchengladbach in September. Facing the Irish in the first of their Pool A matches in Changzhou, it took England 23 minutes to take the lead from a Richard Mantell penalty corner. Minutes later Ireland were awarded a penalty corner, and with their regular corner taker Stephen Butler off the pitch, John Jermyn stepped up to take it and converted with a low shot which deflected off Ebsworth into the England goal. A second penalty corner strike by Mantell four minutes later took England into the break with a 2-1 lead. Fifteen minutes after the re-start another Richard Mantell corner strike hit Ireland’s Mark Cleghorn in the body, and Ben Hawes was able to convert the resulting penalty stroke. Minutes later, and with England down to ten men whilst Martin Jones served a period of suspension, a fine save by Jon Ebsworth maintained the two goal lead. Two more penalty corner conversions by Mantell gave England a deserved 5-1 victory.
England are next in action against Egypt at 03:00 BST tomorrow. Watch this blog for all the latest from Changzhou.
