KARACHI: Pakistan lost to hosts Great Britain 4-1 on Friday in the men's hockey group A match at the London Olympics.
In a brilliant display at the Riverbank Arena, Ashley Jackson scored two goals for the hosts as James Tindall and Jonty Clarke added one each while capain Sohail Abbas pulled one back for Pakistan.
Great Britain were on top from the beginning as Tindall beat goal keeper Imran Shah to open the scoring in the third minute from a tight angle. The hosts finished the first half 2-0 up after Clarke doubled their lead in the 25th minute.
Great Britain extended their lead further in the second half as Jackson scored twice from penalty corners - in the 59th and 66th minutes of the match. The winning margin could have been much bigger if not for the many missed chances.
The Greenshirts' captain scored one in the dying minutes of the game but it was too late for the 2010 Asian Games' gold medallists to make a difference to the result.
Britain's hockey men drew level on points with world champions Australia with the victory.
The hosts were almost unrecognisable from the team which was held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by South Africa two days ago.
“It was very important for us after a nightmare performance against South Africa, but that was a much better performance, there was a lot more fight about us,” Jackson said.
Pakistan opened their hockey campaign at the Olympics with a 1-1 draw against Spain followed by a 2-0 win over Argentina. They next play South Africa on Sunday, August 5.
Statistics
| Great Britain | Pakistan | |
|---|---|---|
| 4/12 (33%) | Total Goals/Shots | 1/6 (17%) |
| 2/6 | Field Goal Goals/Shots | 0/1 |
| 2/6 | Penalty Corner Goals/Shots | 1/5 |
| 0/0 | Penalty Stroke Goals/Shots | 0/0 |
