Hockey: Giles shines in England rout

CALUM GILES, the specialist corner-striker written off by many following the introduction of the no-substitute rule after the award of a penalty corner, continued his remarkable goal scoring run with a hat- trick as England beat South Africa 6-0.

England followed up their 6-2 defeat of the Springboks two days ago with another confident performance in Buenos Aires after Giles had given them a dream start with two goals in the opening nine minutes.

For his first, after seven minutes he was left with just the goalkeeper to beat following a smart move between Mark Pearn and Danny Hall. His second, a low flick at England's first penalty corner, enabled England to carry the initiative to the interval.

Russell Garcia and Hall increased England's lead with penalty corner conversions midway through the second half before Giles completed his hat-trick with a reverse stick sweep as the ball rebounded off the crossbar from a Jimmy Wallis shot.

Clever approach work by Duncan Woods provided the opportunity for Pearn to complete the England rout. England will go into today's second match against Argentina full of confidence.

Jon Copp, the assistant coach in charge of yesterday's game, said: "I was very pleased with the team's performance, continuing to improve with each match. The side played with discipline and determination, coping well with periods of intense pressure from a much improved South African side."

ENGLAND: S Triggs (Canterbury); M Johnson (Cannock), B Barnes (Reading), J Halls (Cannock), B Waugh (Southgate, capt); J Wallis (Teddington), D Woods (Southgate), R Garcia (Harvestehuder); M Pearn (Reading), D Hall (Guildford), C Giles (Southgate). Substitutes used: B Sharpe (Cannock) B Garrard (Teddington), G Cover (Havant), T Bertram (Bournville).

SOUTH AFRICA: B Milne; J King; W Bond, C Jackson (Captain), B Key; C Fulton, M Cullen, G Murray; G Clark, G Nicol, E Smith. Substitutes used: C Abrahams, D Gallagher, R Wilson, G Maier.

Umpires: E Ruiz (Arg) and E Saladino (Arg).

n Slough, the English Champions, lead the European Challenge in the women's Club Championship in Den Bosch, Netherlands, along with Edinburgh Ladies. Clifton carry the Cup-Winners' Cup banner in Terrassa, Spain. Beeston will have their first taste of European competition in the men's Cup-Winners' Cup in Amsterdam.