Hockey: England inspired by double from Smith

Canada 1 England

Jane Smith was again on target as England came from behind in the second game of the Five Nations Tournament in Vancouver to beat Canada in an end-to-end contest.

Canada, who in their opening game had beaten Ireland 1-0 and have been in training for the past two months, were the first to attack and although Smith went close after 10 minutes when she slammed the ball against the upright, it was Canada who took the lead in the 22nd minute. Laurelee Kopeck came forward out of defence to beat Carolyn Reid in the English goal to the joy of a large and excited home crowd.

England lifted their game and the additional pressure quickly paid dividends as they won a penalty corner in the 25th minute from which Smith scored with a stinging drive. With two minutes of the half remaining England took the lead, Tina Cullen being rewarded for her persistence with a well taken rasping shot from the edge of the circle after some slack defending.

England were called upon to show their defensive skills in a tremendous second half battle in which, once again, the veteran Karen Brown, Kirsty Bowden and Slough's Lisa Copeland winning only her second cap, were outstanding.

Nineteen-year-old Carol Voss in the centre of the midfield also looked very promising. England's coach, Maggie Souyave, while agreeing that her young team looked tired, was pleased with their outstanding defensive performance, commenting: "A win's a bonus."

In the second game Tracey Fuchs' goal was enough to give America a 1- 0 win over Japan, England's next opponents.

CANADA: S Forbes; D Anderson; L Kopeck, N Colaco (capt), K MacNeill; L Faust, G Sewell, C Thomson; C Hunter, A Grimes, A MacFarlane. Substitutes used: V Planella, L Eastman, J Wong, S Tingley.

ENGLAND: C Reid (Hightown); K Brown (Slough); J Empson (Canterbury, capt), K Bowden (Balsam Leicester), L Copeland (Slough); L Wright (Olton), C Voss (Balsam Leicester) M Davies (Sutton Coldfield); S Blanks (Balsam Leicester), T Cullen (Hightown), J Smith (Slough). Substitutes used: D Marston-Smith (Clifton), H Rose (Sutton Coldfield), P Miller (Balsam Leicester).

Umpires: M Cashwell (US) and A McCloskey (Irl).