Lee fury at lethargic England first half performance

ENGLAND hockey coach Jason Lee blamed a ‘lethargic' first half following a 3-2 defeat to Pakistan in Cannock.

NO COMEBACK: James Tindall scored for England in the second half but it was too little, too late (Getty Images)

The loss means a Test series defeat and only pride will be at stake when the side's clash again in their third and final match on Friday.

But Lee was in no mood to see positives despite a late second half fightback.

Muhammad Waqas and Muhammed Imran gave Pakistan a half-time lead and Abdul Haseem Khan added another after the interval.

Surbiton's James Tindall and Matt Daly reduced the arrears as England finally rallied but it was not enough.

"We just can't play at that low an intensity at international hockey and expect to compete," fumed Lee.

"We let them have the ball so comfortably for such long periods in the first half that it's not surprising we struggled to get into the game, even though we had enough corners to give ourselves a chance.

"What we're trying to do is learn international hockey again after a long break after Beijing.  It was very disappointing how we started and the players will feel that, but it's good that we finished properly."

However, Lee did believe England won the second half battle

"After the break, we found the right intensity of play and then we became very competitive," he added. 

"We hit the cross bar and had an open goal at the end and the goal they scored was entirely down to our mistake."