ENGLAND EXCEL IN COMMOWEALTH TOURNAMENT

England followed up their impressive victory in the North Sea Tournament with a splendid bronze medal in the Commonwealth Championships in Manchester. Congratulations to all on a double success that will delight all clubs and supporters in the National League.

After losing 11-4 to Olympic Games quarter-finalists Australia in the semi-finals, England faced Malta in the third place play-off – and what a thriller this turned out to be.

Malta led 7-6 with two minutes remaining at the end of the fourth period. But a man-up goal by Lancaster’s Colin Burgess took the game into extra time. And it wasn’t until the second extra period that England finally took control, scoring goals by Bristol Central’s Craig Figes (2) and Graham Martin-Dye, of Penguin, to win 11-8.

England began the competition with a 12-9 victory over New Zealand – the first fixture between the sides since 1974. The match was also extremely tight until Martin-Dye scored two vital penalties in the fourth period.

England beat Ireland 15-4 but lost in their third group match to Canada 8-4.  The defeat by Canada was very close, a missed penalty by Figes - and failure to convert five extra man situations – proving very costly. Canada went on to cause a major upset by defeating Australia 6-5 in the final.

Top scorers for England were Figes (12), Burgess (11), Martin-Dye (7) and Rotherham’s Chris Kirby (7). England team: David Bush (Lancaster), Michael Cowburn (Tyldesley), Colin Burgess (Lancaster), Neil Bowers (Lancaster), Craig Figes (Bristol), Ivan Drinkwater (Polytechnic), Chris Kirby (Rotherham), Graham Martin-Dye (Hammersmith Penguin), Daniel Williams (Polytechnic), Paul Annegarn (Polytechnic), Matthew Thresher (Bristol), Sean Love (Lancaster), Jerome Read (Hammersmith Penguin). Coach: Mark Taylor. Manager: Steve Baker (Penguin).

England won all five games in the North Sea Tournament, where Colin Burgess topped the scoring chart with 19. Goalkeeper David Bush, who along with Sea Love has confirmed a move from Bristol Central to Lancaster for the 2002 National League campaign, won the tournament’s “most valuable player” accolade.

In the preliminary rounds, England defeated Sweden 11-2, Belgium 8-5 and Denmark 10-8. Denmark were beaten 10-5 in the semi-finals while Belgium edged through 6-5 against Sweden. In the final, England confirmed their steady improvement with an outstanding 9-2 defeat of Belgium. Denmark beat Sweden 9-5 in the third/fourth place play-off. In the junior tournament, England beat Rotherham 8-6 in the final. Top scorer: Van Oost (Belgium) 12. Most valuable player: Richard Leighton (England).

KEEPING IN TOUCH

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