Hockey: England suffer first defeat

England lost their unbeaten record in the Junior World Cup when they went down 1-0 to Germany, the defending champions, in a thrilling end-to-end contest at Milton Keynes on Saturday. The German goal came 18 minutes into the game through Thomas Draguhn on the counter attack after an England penalty corner had broken down.

Thanks to a splendid display from goalkeeper Jon Ebsworth, England were always in the hunt to the final whistle when they lodged a formal protest. They alleged that a suspended German player had illegally returned to the field of play.

The Canadian tournament director, accepting the German explanation that it had been an honest mistake and not a deliberate offence, decided not to uphold England's protest. England remain in second place in their pool with a crucial game against Argentina this afternoon.

In a high-class encounter yesterday in Pool A, Australia twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with India in a game of contrasting styles. Earlier in the day in a dour game Belgium collected their first win of the tournament beating Cuba 1-0. The Dutch collected their first win of the tournament, beating Spain 1- 0.

Defending champions Slough were off to a good start on the opening day of the National League programme beating Hightown 4 - 2 with the new recruit, Great Britain and Scottish international Sue MacDonald, scoring twice.

-Bill Colwill