Match Report
Friday 3 August 2012
GREAT BRITAIN 4 (2)
James Tindall 4’ (F)
Jonty Clarke 27’ (F)
Ashley Jackson 50’ 67’ (PC)
(PC)
PAKISTAN 1 (0)
Sohail Abbas 69’ (PC)
Cheered on by a packed
Riverbank Arena, Great Britain men were back to their best this afternoon with
a dominant display against Pakistan coming out 4-1 winners.
The result leaves the home
side equal on points with Australia at the top of Pool A and sets up a
mouth-watering contest in two days time when the sides will face each other.
After drawing 2-2 with South
Africa on Wednesday night, Great Britain came out with a point to prove against
the world number eight side. Two goals in the first half from James Tindall and
Jonty Clarke set the tone and an unstoppable Ashley Jackson added two more in
the second half to make it 4-0 before Pakistan pulled one back in the final
minute through their captain Sohail Abbas.
Speaking after his man of
the match display, Great Britain forward Ashley Jackson said, "It was very
important for us to win after a disappointing performance against South Africa,
but that was a much better today and there was a lot more fight about us. We
knew that if we slipped up here then it was going to be very difficult from
here on in, so we were playing with a bit of fear, which always makes it a bit
better."
Great Britain made a great
start to the match and broke the deadlock early in the fourth minute through
Surbiton’s James Tindall who scored his first goal of the competition. East
Grinstead’s danger-man Ashley Jackson made an excellent break and found Old
Loughtonians’ Harry Martin in space inside the circle. The midfielder’s smart
shot was saved by Pakistan’s goalkeeper Imran Shah but the ball broke to
Tindall at the back post and his reverse stick shot made it 1-0 to Great
Britain.
Two minutes later, Great
Britain had a chance to double their lead following Surbiton’s Matt Daly
winning a penalty corner for a foot infringement. However, Jackson’s drag-flick
towards the top right hand corner of the goal was brilliantly deflected over
the cross-bar by Rashid Mehmood’s outstretched stick on the goal-line.
The second goal for Great
Britain in the 27th minute came as the result of exquisite inter-play between
the influential Jackson and Reading’s Nick Catlin. With Shah’s attempt to
smother the ball being foiled by Catlin’s clever draw and pass, his Reading
team-mate Jonty Clarke was left with the simple task of rolling the ball into
the unguarded Pakistan goal to double the home nation’s lead at
2-0.
Great Britain almost took a
three goal advantage into the half-time interval but both Surbiton’s Matt Daly
and Great Britain Captain Barry Middleton’s despairing dives couldn’t connect
with Jackson’s excellent cross from the left hand side of the circle. The score
remained 2-0 as the sides went in for the break.
A flurry of penalty corners
were awarded to Pakistan in the opening minutes of the second half with Pakistan
Captain Sohail Abbas, a renowned penalty corner expert, stepping up to take all
three set-plays. However, an initial defensive block and two brilliant saves by
the commanding Great Britain and Cannock goalkeeper James Fair denied the 37
year-old veteran from scoring Pakistan’s first goal of the game.
Shortly afterwards, the
irrepressible Jackson had another opportunity from a penalty corner when neat
stick-work from Surbiton’s Rob Moore forced a Pakistan foot infringement in the
shooting circle. The former World Young Player of the Year’s first shot on goal
was illegally blocked by the on-coming Mehmood, who took a painful knock and
treatment for his troubles. However, the 24 year-old composed himself again to
dispatch the resulting penalty corner past Shah and extend Great Britain’s lead
at 3-0 in the 50th minute.
With Pakistan tiring towards
the end of the match, Jackson crowned a fantastic man of the match performance
with another penalty corner strike in the 67th minute. Martin’s quick dart
along the by-line was impeded illegally by a defender and the subsequent
set-play saw Jackson expertly drag-flick the ball high beyond Shah’s attempted
save to put Great Britain 4-0 up.
Not to be completely
out-done, Abbas continued his remarkable international scoring record by
pulling back a consolation goal in the 69th minute when he beat Fair from a
penalty corner to make the final score Great Britain 4-1 Pakistan.
As a result, Great Britain
are now level with Australia at the top of Pool A on seven points. The two
unbeaten sides will meet each other at the Riverbank Arena on Sunday 5 August
(19.00).
Looking forward to Sunday’s
game, Jackson said, "It's going to be tough. We're going to be slogging it
out toe to toe. I'm sure it's going to be a fantastic match and very
entertaining."
Meanwhile, Great Britain
women have the chance to qualify for the semi-finals tomorrow, when a win or
draw against China will guarantee the home nation a last four place and the
prospect of a medal match. Great Britain vs. China starts at 16.00 at the
Riverbank Arena.
