It was almost like England had organised the party but the visitors had drunk all the wine. Needing a win yesterday evening to reach the finals of the London Cup, England faced their second defeat in as many days, this time at the hands of Korea.
It was not that England played that badly. Korea had spells of luck and spells of sheer brilliance which, by the end of 70 minutes, was the difference between the two teams. Indeed, in the opening exchanges, England seemed to be defying those who rated Korea as potential London Cup winners, particularly when Jonty Clarke opened the scoring after only 12 minutes.
England's nemesis turned out to be Korea's Nam Yong Lee, who answered everything the England had to offer goal for goal, including what is potentially the goal of the tournament, if not the goal of 2011. Lee collected an aerial ball at shoulder height and flipped it into the net over an advancing James Fair. Lee equalised ten minutes after Clarke's opener, and again in response to Barry Middleton's 25 minute goal. When Mark Pearn found the net to restore England's lead early in the second half, Lee again scored his third equaliser three mutes later.
Skipper, Barry Middleton, scored his second to restore England's lead, five minutes later, but this time it was Korea's Jong Hyun Jang who responded from a penalty corner. But England's hopes of winning this match and putting themselves in contention for the final came crashing down in the closing minutes when both Glenn Kirkham and James Tindall were given time on the naughty seat and during power play Hyo Sik You scored the winner in the last three minutes. Final score, 5-2 to Korea.
Excuses always abound for poor performances ahead of a major championships – and we have the European's in a few weeks time – but it is inconceivable that England did not set out to win this tournament on home soil. The usually candid Jason Lee said after the game that he was proud of how England had played. Presumably he is less proud of the result.
Earlier in the day New Zealand had come back from behind to win their match against Belgium, a result which puts them three points ahead at the top of the table. England play the New Zealanders in the last of their preliminary games on Friday.
IMAGES FROM ENGLAND v KOREA WILL BE POSTED ON OUR PHOTOS WEB SITE AT WWW.HOCKEYIMAGES .CO.UK ON FRIDAY MORNING.
Table after two matches:
- New Zealand 6 pts
- Belgium 3 pts
- Korea 3 pts
England 0 pts
