Head coach Bobby Crutchley insists England will travel to Belgium for next month’s EuroHockey Championships boosted by their bronze medal at the World League Semi-Final.
England recovered from Saturday’s semi-final defeat to Argentina to see off Korea 2-1 in the third-place play-off in Malaysia – Ben Arnold and Harry Martin both finding the net.
Arnold opened the scoring in the 13th minute after poaching the ball from the Korean defence however they were to hit back after the break through Seong Kyu Kim.
Kim deflected the ball home at the second attempt after Korea’s first penalty corner of the game but the scores didn’t remain level for long as Martin pounced eight minutes later.
England won their first penalty corner against the run of play in the 59th minute with Martin on hand to finish a well-worked routine for what would be the game winning goal.
Mark Gleghorne and Ashley Jackson both missed the game through injury and Crutchley saw enough to breed confidence ahead of the European Championships from August 17-25.
“I think we showed a lot of resilience out there and I’m very proud of the team and their ability to bounce back from a disappointing performance yesterday,” said Crutchley.
“We were under added pressure missing two players and subsequently the team had to dig deep. This tournament has given us a much needed confidence boost ahead of the European Championships next month.”
© Sportsbeat 2013
Photo Frank Uijlenbroek/England Hockey