England stun Germans to win title

Ashley Jackson scored twice as England's men claimed their first ever EuroHockey Nations title, beating world and Olympic champions Germany 5-3.

Jackson opened the scoring before Christian Zeller equalised, only for captain Barry Middleton's fine shot from an angle to make it 2-1.

Zeller made it 2-2 before setting up Jan-Marco Montag to put Germany 3-2 up.

Richard Mantell scored twice in quick succession in the second half before Jackson's penalty sealed a famous win.

Jackson said: "We said after playing as Great Britain at the Olympics that we want to build all the way to 2012 but that we want to do that winning medals along the way.

"This is the first tournament since Beijing and we have got our first medal."

The teams had drawn 4-4 in the group stage, after England had led 4-2, and an increasingly desperate German side did its best to try and pull off another dramatic comeback.

606: DEBATE

" First the women get a bronze in their playoff and now the men have won the gold and are the champions. Well done guys and girls. You've all deserved it!!! "

But for all their efforts, the England backline stood firm and they held on for a well-deserved victory.

England's only previous appearance in the final came in 1987, when a team including the likes of Sean Kerly lost on penalty strokes to the Netherlands.

England's women had already won the bronze medal in their championship after beating Spain 2-1 on Saturday.

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