LONDON -  Unibet Eurohockey Championships 2015 in  London. England v Spain. Ashley Jackson (l) with Spanish Bosco Perez-Pla .  WSP Copyright  KOEN SUYK

Jackson leads England charge against Spain

ENG v ESP 4-0 (2-0)

England booked their place in Thursday night’s Semi-Final after a feisty encounter between two sides desperate to make their mark in the Unibet EuroHockey Championships, which was a fitting finale to the pool stages of this tournament. In the end, it was a game that England never looked like losing as Spain played hard but lacked final fire-power. The host nation were helped by the sparkling form showed by talisman Ashley Jackson and goalkeeper George Pinner.

The first salvo was fired by England, Jackson firing a shot at ‘keeper Quico Cortes, only to see his shot palmed wide. The remainder of the quarter was one of attack and counter-attack as the two teams tested each other, but gradually the home side began to make their greater experience count as they took a greater share of the possession and created more chances.

Barry Middleton came close to getting on the end of a ball flying into the circle, but Cortes made a fabulous point blank save to deny the England captain.

In their first penalty corner, Spain’s Pau Quemada’s low shot was saved by Pinner in the England goal and the subsequent clearance set up a lightening fast England counter-attack. David Condon raced up the pitch before finding Nick Catlin on the right-hand edge of the circle: his shot fizzed past the far post.

The second quarter started at the same pace, but with Spain looking slightly sharper to the ball. Miquel Delas released Gabriel Dabanch with a fantastically piercing ball up the line, but the England defence stood firm and Jackson emerged with the ball.

Seconds later, Alastair Brogdon earned England their first penalty corner of the game after his strong run forced a Spanish error. Ashley Jackson’s (20′) rocket of a drag flick left even the agile Cortes stranded as the ball shot into the roof of the net. Mark Gleghorne was unlucky not to double the lead minutes later when his shot hit the side netting. The move had been set up by David Ames, whose great front marking left a frustrated Alex Casasayas with no option but to make a green card inducing foul.

Barry Middleton scored his 99th international goal in the 24th minute when he picked up the rebound from a cracking shot by Chris Griffiths.

The second half saw Spain piling on the pressure through a series of corners. The Red Sticks will rue the fact that expert corner striker Pau Quemada was off the pitch at the time, but an innovative routine nearly paid dividends. A beautiful spin by Gabriel Dabanch set up the shot for Vincenc Ruiz, but the Spain attack force found ‘keeper Pinner on invincible form – the tall keeper diving low and recovering to deal with the next phases of action.

England sealed their place as runners-up in Pool A when Chris Griffiths (43′) followed up on a penalty corner strike and diving full length, slammed the ball past Cortes.

England created more chances as the gaps across the field opened. Harry Martin fed Sam Ward, but the quick reactions of Cortes stifled the move. However, England still weren’t finished. Jackson (57′) – who was deservedly Man of the Match – started the move and finished it, tipping in Ward’s initial attempt.

Speaking after the game, Spain’s captain Sergei Enrique was magnanimous in defeat: “I have to pay tribute to the England defence. They were magnificent. If we had scored it would have been a different game.”

Henry Weir said that the difference between this game and England’s earlier encounter with Netherlands was the “execution of play.”

“We got the ball, kept it and played with aggression, that is how we wanted to play and it paid off.”

The result sets up a semi-final encounter with Germany for England, while Spain will play Belgium.