Pakistan 2 drew Belgium 2
Goals: Pakistan – Adnan Zakir FG 50m, Muhammad Saqlain FG 59m, Belgium – Jean-Philippe Brule PC 62m, Jerome Truyens FG 70m

In the first match of today’s second round of group matches for pool A, tournament favorites Pakistan struggled again and unexpectedly had to concede a point to Belgium.

The Greenshirts started well but failed to capitalize on their opportunities until midway through the second half, when within two minutes they were finally able to secure a two goal lead.

But Belgium was determined to not be defeated quite so easily though and fought back with a penalty corner goal from set piece specialist Jean-Philippe Brule and a goal literally scored in the last second of the game by young Jerome Truyens, still wearing a big bandage over the right eye from a hit taken earlier in the match.

Pakistan indicated their wish to protest, claiming that the last goal had been scored after the hooter was blown, but later refrained from seeing it through. The result thus was confirmed, and after the first match of the day, Pakistan and Belgium shared the table lead in pool A with four points each.

England 6 beat Egypt 1
Goals: England – Simon Mantell FG 4m, James Tindall FG 5m, Richard Mantell PC 9m PC 63m, Jonty Clarke FG 28m, Richard Alexander FG 39m, Egypt – Sameh Mohamed FG 56m

After Pakistan and Belgium splitting points, England had little trouble taking over the solidary table lead with a convincing 6-1 defeat of Egypt.

It was always going to be a reasonably difficult outing for the Egyptians, but it was quickly compounded as England raced to a 3-nil lead in less than ten minutes.

Goals from Simon Mantell, James Tindall and Richard Mantell saw England assume control, with a fourth from the stick of Jonty Clarke shortly before half time putting an end to the contest completely.

Richard Mantell, who scored his second for the match late in the second half, now heads the competitions’ leading goal scorer list with six from two outings. All six have come from penalty corners.

Ireland 2 beat Canada 1
Goals: Ireland – Stephen Butler PC 34m, Mark Gleghorne FG 41m, Canada – Michael Lee FG 39m

In the last match of the day, the Irish squad provided the surprisingly large number of supporters that have come half way around the globe to root for them with a reason to cheer as they defeated Canada for a coveted three points.

Dave Passmore's Irish boys dominated much of the match and won deservedly despite a good effort from the Canadians who even took goalkeeper Mike Mahood off the field in the last few minutes in the hope of gaining an advantage. Mahood had previously played a leading role in keeping his team in the match, producing some excellent saves and illustrating once again why he is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Despite their good control of the game from the beginning, Ireland found it hard to create goalscoring opportunities, and it was only shortly before halftime that they finally managed to score, courtesy of a Stephen Butler penalty corner.

After the break however, Mike Lee provided his team with a boost when he deflected a powerful cross from Pete Short into the goal for the equalizer - only to see the Irish regain their lead minutes later through a great reverse stick shot from Mark Gleghorne. While Ireland then mostly tried to protect their lead rather than extend it, Canada played increasingly offensively as the end of the match approached. Nonetheless, Ireland held on to the score and went home happy having won three important points.

Pool A teams now have a rest day ahead of them, while the teams in pool B will be contesting their second matches tomorrow Friday.