By Annika Breidthardt
LONDON Aug 3 (Reuters) – Britain’s hockey men drew level on
points with world champions Australia in Pool A on Friday with
4-1 victory over Pakistan at a packed Riverside arena while the
Kookaburras were surprisingly held by Argentina.
The hosts were almost unrecognisable from the team which was
held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by South Africa two days ago.
It took only four minutes for James Tindal to score. Jonty
Clarke converted in the 27th minute after a quick move downfield
and two penalty corners drag flick goals from Ashley Jackson,
one of the best players on the field on Friday, sealed the deal.
Pakistan’s skipper Sohail Abbas scored a last minute penalty
corner goal but that did little to mask Britain’s dominance and
improved effectiveness throughout the match.
“It was very important for us after a nightmare performance
against South Africa, but that was a much better performance,
there was a lot more fight about us,” Jackson said.
In the first match of the day, Australia showed they are not
invincible when they failed to hold on to a 2-0 lead over
Argentina who had lost both matches in the tournament so far.
Australian striker Jamie Dwyer broke his country’s all-time
scoring record with his 2-0, a simple tap-in just before the
break but his side paid for missing 22 shots on goal.
Argentina scored just two minutes after the interval, with a
shot by their skipper Matias Vila deflected off Australian
defender Fergus Kavanagh’s stick.
Continued…
