Hockey: Johnson's penalty opens floodgates: England win at last

KATH JOHNSON may not score a more important goal than the one she converted from a penalty stroke in the third minute of England's last pool game against Canada in the Women's World Cup yesterday.

England opened in an attacking vein, and on this occasion they converted their chances on their way to a 3-0 win. As two defenders converged unceremoniously on Tammy Miller, the Dutch umpire, Miriam van Gemert, awarded the penalty stroke. Johnson moved up confidently to convert the stroke and England never looked back.

With Tina Cullen and Jane Sixsmith buzzing up front, it was not surprising when a second goal came after 11 minutes. A good steal by Cullen sent Sixsmith goalwards. Although her shot was blocked, Miller was on hand to score. The Sixsmith-Cullen combination produced their third goal in the 31st minute. Sixsmith collected the ball on the left, hit a long pass to Cullen on the right and dived to meet Cullen's cross with a reverse-stick jab.

England played a containing game in the second half, used their substitutes sensibly, looking towards the game with Ireland on Saturday, the winner of which will claim the last Olympic qualifying place.

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

CANADA: D Whitten (capt); N Colaco, T Croxford, J Brough, L Czenczek, D Covey, S Creelman, L Kopeck, M Colaco, R Low, S Reid. Substitutes used: H Jones, D Anderson, S Davies.

Umpires: M van Gemert (Netherlands), C Heinrichs (Germany).

WATERFORD CRYSTAL WOMEN'S WORLD CUP (Dublin): POOL A: Australia 4 Korea 1.

----------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL POSITIONS ----------------------------------------------------------------- P W D L F A Pts Argentina 5 4 0 1 7 3 8 Australia 5 3 1 1 13 5 7 Korea 5 2 1 2 10 8 5 Spain 5 1 3 1 8 7 5 Russia 5 1 1 3 3 9 3 Ireland 5 0 2 3 1 10 2 POOL B: England 3 Canada 0; China 0 United States 1; Germany 2 Netherlands 1. FINAL POSITIONS P W D L F A Pts Germany 5 3 1 1 9 4 7 USA 5 3 1 1 5 3 7 Netherlands 5 3 0 2 7 4 6 China 5 2 1 2 4 3 5 England 5 1 1 3 3 5 3 Canada 5 1 0 4 1 10 2 -----------------------------------------------------------------