MADRID: A second half goal from Helen Richardson sealed a solid victory for England over Olympic Champion Germany at the Women's World Cup field hockey tournament here on Tuesday.

Having lost to Spain already, the Germans could not afford to lose again in their Pool A tie.

But England was so effective that German star forward Natasha Keller was rarely in the match.

The hard running of Katharina Scholz was the main feature of German play as the England midfield placed pressure on the German distribution.

England should have led at half-time when Christa Cullen had a corner saved by Yvonne Frank in goal.

After the break, Germany suddenly went one down after 38 minutes when Richardson flicked home a penalty stroke after an England corner.

With a major upset looming, England controlled the match and Germany was forced to change their traditional structured play and move their emphasis to full attack.

Crowd support

As England continued to lead, the Spanish fans suddenly realised that an England win might assist their quest.

With Spain playing India and England on Wednesday, they liked their chances.

Germany plays the Netherlands on Wednesday hence this match's importance grew as the seconds ticked by.

England forward Jo Ellis had a great match penetrating deep down the right causing Germany all sorts of problems and Cullen was superb in defence.

The win catapults England to seven points in front of Germany and three points behind the Netherlands.

German coach Markus Weise was furious with his team and the umpiring.

``We only created half chances and didn't stick to the game plan,'' he lamented. ``We didn't score against Spain or England, there is a big problem.''

He added: ``The umpiring here is very inconsistent and constructive play is punished. Ball possession is supposed to be an advantage so skilled teams can play, this is not happening.''

England coach Danny Kerry said: ``We expected to win, I was calmer today than in the controversial India game."

Big win

The Netherlands trounced China 6-1 in the other pool A match.

China's defence collapsed as the Netherland scored two goals in the first half before adding four after the break.

With this win, the Netherlands goes through the semifinals with four wins from as many pool games.

The results: England bt Germany 1-0; The Netherlands bt China 6-1. — Agencies

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