Britain ended Pakistan's unbeaten run in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Sunday with a hard earned 3-2 victory, leaving the Asian side with a slender lead at the top of the standings. Both teams have six points from three matches, but Pakistan are ahead on goal difference. Britain won their last meeting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics 4-2 and they again took full points despite coming under pressure in the late stages of the match.
Coach Jason Lee said he was satisfied with the win. "It was a much better performance than we played against India the other day. We are here to learn and built on our team. naturally we too would like to win the tournament. The race is still wide open," he said.
Robert Moore opened the scoring in the eighth minute from a field attempt.
But Pakistan's veteran penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas levelled in the 31st minute.
In the second half Pakistan went on the offensive and came close through Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi and Waqas Akbar only to be denied by in-form Britain goalkeeper Nicholas Brothers.
Four minutes into the half Britain regained the lead through Jonathan Clarke, heaping pressure on Pakistan to respond.
Clarke was again on target in the 63rd minute against the run of play, scoring from a field attempt after breaking through in a fast counter attack.
Pakistan hit back immediately through Abdul Haseem Khan but it was not enough to peg back Britain.
In an earlier match, world champions Australia were held to a 1-1 by India thanks to a superb defensive performance against a second-half onslaught from the world's leading team.
Both teams now have four points after a win and a draw, but the Indians have played a game more, losing to South Korea.
Just six months ago India were thrashed 0-8 by Australia in the Commonwealth Games final in New Delhi and Australian coach Ric Charlesworth said the result was disappointing.
"But I am not surprised... India played good hockey but I think we too were responsible as we did not take our chances," he said. In the third match of the day South Korea drew 1-1 with New Zealand. The Kiwis controlled play in the first half but failed to score until the 50th minute through Benjamin Colliers. They were unable to make further headway and the South Koreans then stepped up their attack in the search for the equaliser and were rewarded in the 58th minute when Jang Jong-hyun scored from the penalty corner.
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