England defeat Korea 2-1 in World League to secure bronze

England hockey player Nick Catlin

England's men won the bronze medal at the World League after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Korea in Malaysia.

Ben Arnold had opened the scoring for England, who were without experienced duo Mark Gleghorne and Ashley Jackson, in the first half.

Korea pulled a goal back through Seong Kyu Kim shortly after half-time but Harry Martin netted to seal the win.

"We showed a lot of resilience out there and I'm proud of the team," said England head coach Bobby Crutchley.

"I'm very proud of the ability to bounce back from a disappointing defeat and performance against Argentina in the semi-finals.

"We were under added pressure missing two players and subsequently the team had to dig deep.

"This tournament has given us a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the European Championships next month."

Arnold put England ahead in the 13th minute when he poached the ball from the Korean defence and used his pace to drive across the circle to create space for the strike.

Korea got themselves back on level terms when the unmarked Kim deflected the ball past England goalkeeper George Pinner in the 51st minute from a penalty corner.

But England regained the lead eight minutes later when a well-worked penalty corner routine saw Nick Catlin square the ball to Martin for a simple tap-in.

By finishing in the top four, England secured qualification for the 2014 World Cup as they are ranked higher than New Zealand.

In the final, Germany defeated Argentina 4-2.