Hockey: Nervous England complete double
England 5 Japan 3
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Your support makes all the difference.KAREN BROWN, the England captain, scored twice as her team completed the expected double over the visiting Japanese side at Milton Keynes yesterday in a scrappy game to follow their 3-0 victory in the first Test on Wednesday.
With England's coach, Maggie Souyave, due to announceher squad for next month's European Cup in Cologne, there were plenty of nerves apparent in England's performance yesterday. A goal up inside the first minute, when Brown slotted home after Mel Clewlow's first penalty corner shot had been blocked, did little to settle them. Thereafter England created a string of opportunities but only took the one goal advantage into the interval.
A switch back to Jane Sixsmith at a penalty corner six minutes into the second half put England further ahead before Aki Matsui pulled a goal back for the visitors. A well taken goal by Purdy Miller when she latched on to a long through ball from Brown increased England's lead in the 50th minute.
Yuka Ogura, with the first of her two goals, kept Japan in the game before Clewlow, at yet another penalty corner, restored England's two-goal margin. Ogura collected her second with Brown doing likewise in the dying minutes.
ENGLAND: C Reid (Hightown); L Newcombe (Clifton Scottish Life), M Clewlow (Canterbury), F Greenham (Slough), J Bimson (Olton); K Bowden (Fyffes Leicester) S Chandler (Slough); K Brown (capt, Slough); J Sixsmith (Sutton Coldfield), P Miller (Fyffes Leicester); D Marston-Smith (Clifton Scottish Life). Substitutes used: A Bennett (Slough), L Catchpole (Ipswich), M Nicholson (Slough), S Blanks (Fyffes Leicester).
JAPAN: K Matsui; A Chiba, A Kato, K Miura; N Hori; S Iwao, M Sukui, A Matsui; S Morimoto, S Miyazaki (capt), N Saito. Substitutes used: N Miyazaki, Y Suzuki, Y Ogura, T Sukui.
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