Daly double helps England down France

MATT Daly's fine double inspired England to a thumping win over France as preparations for the EuroHockey Nations Championships in Holland gather pace.

RED HOT: Matt Daly can't stop scoring as he bags a brace against France ahead of European Championships

Ashley Jackson continued his fine goal-scoring form and got the ball rolling at Bisham Abbey before Daly bagged twice and Barry Middleton notched his 25th goal for England to seal a convincing win.

It's England second victory over France this week, having put eight past their opponents on Wednesday, and their 39th victory over the French in their 46 meetings.

And England head coach Jason Lee insists his squad's preparations remain on course before heading to Amsterdam later this month.   

"It was a useful exercise," he said.  "France played better today than the other night so it was a good realistic test for us ahead of the EuroHockey Nations Championships. 

"I thought we actually played better today than on Wednesday too. A number of the players are playing well at the moment although at times you could see them protecting themselves from injury at this late stage."

England continued from where they left off in the opening stages and while James Tindall saw his effort well saved by Henri-Julien Lhomme in the hosts' first attack, Jackson made no mistake from a penalty corner.

Simon Mantell was unfortunate a minute later when his close-range effort was deflected over the bar by the French goalkeeper who knew little about the save.

But on 33 minutes, England had their second goal when Daly, who scored a hat-trick on Wednesday, converted a penalty corner effort inside the right hand post.

Tindall turned provider on 46 minutes when he skipped through the French midfield before teeing up Middleton, who fired home into the bottom-left corner.

At 3-0 up England were cruising and their fourth goal, Daly's second, came about when quick passing between Rob Moore and Adam Dixon found Jonty Clarke on the right baseline and his cross to the back post was finished off by Daly.