England Beats Australia 6-1 in Hero Hockey Junior World Cup Men 2013

New Delhi, 12 December 2013: In the first match of the consolation round of the 2013 Hero Hockey Junior World Cup it was Egypt that showed up to play for the opening half, stunning England with the a goal in the 10th minute. A lack of basic skills plagued the English squad that showed more experience than Egypt but could not penetrate the circle in any dangerous fashion.

As for Egypt, who entered the 16-team tournament seeded last, Ramy Mohamed served the stinger that was the lone first-half goal. Egypt’s captain Ahmed Mohsen served up most of the trouble for the English back line despite some valiant tackles from England’s leader Andrew Bull.

England had one penalty corner in the opening frame and the resulting Phil Roper drag went low and wide. The team went on to have a series of seemingly promising chances but could barely muster enough to force a save out of keeper Wael Noureldin. Egypt almost advanced their lead by two when English net minder Harry Gibson was called to action on an Eslam Tarek close-range strike in the 22nd minute.

The mid-way break proved useful for England who returned revived to tally four goals in a ten-minute span. Following a penalty corner saved on the line by Egypt’s Mohamed Ragab, David Goodfield’s hard work helped set up a far-post tap in for James Gall to tie the game at one.

Three minutes later England took the lead thanks to a low, penalty corner drag from Luke Taylor, which sparked a momentum shift in favour the English.  Finally finding their passing ways, England gained control and although Noureldin made two back-to-back saves it was Nicholas Bandurak whose final touch in the air gave England the 3-1 advance.

Egypt’s fatigue began to show despite showing potential on two penalty corners earned. In the 51st minute a crucial steal in the midfield sprung an England attack that resulted in Goodfield getting the final touch over the line. Bandurak and Bull added the fifth and sixth goals, respectively to help England advance to play the winner of Canada-Spain in search of the 13th place.

Speaking on the win, Coach from England said “The 2nd half was excellent; we came back in the game. Egypt tried a lot to compete but our defense was very strong. We came here with high hopes to win the finals but team was not able to qualify so there is little disappointment in the team however am very happy as team played very well today. We have 3-4 experienced players in our team & rest of the team is quite young & they are carrying forward with them a lot of experience which will help them in the future”.