Mason's defiance is not enough

Rob Moore scored on his Great Britain hockey debut but they still lost 3-1 to Australia at Slough and the margin of defeat could have been much greater.

Moore, who plays for Teddington, struck in the 26th minute, by which time Britain were already two down.

Michael McCann restored Australia's two-goal advantage five minutes before halftime and only the brilliance of goalkeeper Simon Mason prevented a drubbing.

The two sides meet again at Cannock tomorrow in the opening match of a trinations tournament which also involves Pakistan.

Britain's coach Jason Lee admitted Australia were by far the better team but stressed he was more interested in how his players adapted to a new style of play which he has introduced.

"The score is not a bad reflection of the game. They could have scored some more goals but so could we," he said.

"The Australians are probably the best team in the world after beating Germany recently while this was our first game since the Olympic qualifier in Madrid in March. The guys played well in certain phases."