In an unconvincing effort against the women from Japan, it was the penalty corner striking of Mel Clewlow and Crista Cullen that carried the day for England at East Grinstead this evening. Under over overcast evening sky England had most of the play in the early stages of the match and it was very much against the overall run of play that Sachimi Iwao scored in the eleventh minute. It was a rather robust defence, marshalled by their captain Akemi Cato, that was to be the undoing of the Japanese, as they gave away a number of penalty corners. England is lucky to have two world class corner strikers in its ranks in Mel Clewlow and Crista Cullen, and it was Clewlow who put England back on terms in the nineteenth minute. England fell behind for a second time when Keiko Muira converted a penalty corner just before half time. Ironically, it seemed to be the Japanese that were pressing England back into their own half for the rest of the match, and yet they failed to find the net again, thanks to some full stretch saves by Beth Storry in the England Goal. The Japanese continued to give away silly penalty corners for rough tackling and Cullen put England back on level terms with a corner conversion shortly after the restart. Rebecca Herbert then scored a third England goal from open play seventeen minutes later. With four minutes left on the clock, Cullen found herself unmarked and running into the top of the 'D' only to be badly obstructed by a defender who threw herelf in front of Cullen. Clewlow scored from the subsequent penalty corner, giving England the victory with a final score of 4-2. The score flatters England somewhat, for although there is little doubt that they deserved to win this game, some inaccurate passing was responsible for Japan having more possession than they deserved.
Our photographs show goalmouth action after a first-half England penalty corner and the skipper and two scorers. Left to right, Kate Walsh (Cpt), Crista Cullen, and Mel Clewlow.
