Hockey: Lister off but England quell Irish

ENGLAND'S women produced another below-par performance in Dublin yesterday as they struggled to find their true form in beating Ireland 1-0. The winner was the only goal of a lacklustre weekend, the teams having drawn 0-0 on Saturday, writes Bill Colwill.

England, as on Saturday, were unable to capitalise on their midfield dominance, although Tammy Miller gave them a 21st- minute lead. In an undistinguished second half England's captain, Sandie Lister, was sent off for a reckless tackle.

ENGLAND: J Thompson (Ipswich); J Atkins (Bradford Swithenbank), L Youngs (Ipswich), K Johnson (Leicester), C Cook (Hightown), M Davies (First Personnel Sutton Coldfield), S Lister (Ipswich, capt), T Miller (Clifton), J Sixsmith (FP Sutton Coldfield), T Cullen (Hightown), A Bennett ( Slough). Substitutes used: J Smith (Chelmsford), S Wright (Slough), S Gibson (Trojans), H Whalley (FP Sutton Coldfield).

In Amsterdam, at the NCM Seven Nations Trophy, the Dutch men, with their captain, Marc Delissen, playing his 200th international, were in sparkling form with a 6-1 win over South Africa. Jan Bovelander scored four goals. The 19-year-old Kamran Ashraf scored three as Pakistan beat Malaysia 6-2 while, in a fluctuating game, Australia beat Germany 3-2. Mark Hager opened the scoring after 22 minutes for the Australians, who were always ahead.