England throw it away against the Netherlands

ENGLAND snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the Netherlands as their losing streak at the Hamburg Masters continued.

Jason Lee's men were 4-1 up by slumped to a 5-4 defeat as England's inexperienced proved pivotal to their demise.

Fresh from a 6-0 thumping by Olympic champions Germany and a comprehensive 5-2 defeat to Australia, England were on the brink of their first victory.

A Barry Middleton double and goals from Matt Daly and Ashley Jackson - who netted twice against the Kookaburras - put Lee's troops in command.

They then pushed the self-destruct button and conceded four times in 12 minutes, but team manager Pete Nicholson refused to put the boot in to his fledgling side.

"We played three of the world's top four which was a big step up but I think they coped well," said Nicholson.

"The scoreline reflected the game. They were clinical in their finishing and, although we had some good spells, they were not sustained for long enough to influence the game."

England's team for their opening match against hosts and world number one side Germany featured six players with fewer than three caps apiece and only ten of 18-strong squad featured at the Beijing Olympics last summer.