England stayed on course for a Rabobank World Cup semi-final spot with a 2-0 victory over Malaysia in Pool A.
A goal either side of half-time from the East Grinstead duo of Mark Gleghorne and Ashley Jackson sealed the points and left England at the top of the pool ahead of the meeting of Australia and Belgium - who face each other later on Thursday.
Former Millfield School captain Simon Mantell was among the used substitutes for Bobby Crutchley's side..
Gleghorne gave England a dream start to the game after just four minutes with a perfectly placed reverse-stick shot past Kumar Subramiam in Malaysia's goal; the attacking midfield duo of Barry Middleton and Ashley Jackson provided the perfect build up play.
England continued to attack throughout the half with chances for Tom Carson, Nick Catlin and a handful of others, but it remained 1-0 at the break.
The second half continued in much the same fashion to the first but Malaysia's defence and Subramiam kept everything out until the 67th minute when Jackson unleashed a sensational drag-flick to secure the three points.
Former Team Bath Buccaneers coach Crutchley said: "I was really pleased with the performance. I thought we were strong and defended as well as we have done so far.
"We controlled the game for large periods and although they had a lot of possession we created the better chances. It was typical of us keeping it a bit closer than I would have liked. If we could have taken a few more of the chances we created it would have been a bit more comfortable but generally it was a good performance and another step up.
"It would have been better to score a few more, but overall we played some good hockey and it was good to get the three points.
"We conceded a corner with four minutes to go and we were thinking if that had gone in we'd have paid for the chances we wasted. We defended the corner well and then obviously scored a good one of our own at the other end which made the last four minutes better than the rest, for me, anyway!"
England's next game is against Australia on Saturday at 3pm (BST).
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