News

Jackson Inspires England on Day 1

posted on 01/03/2010

 

 

There was a wonderful World Cup debut goal for Ashley Jackson in the opening day 3-2 English win over Australia. Grays have been working closely with Ashley over the last year to develop his new AJ 7 stick that he is using here at the World Cup for the first time . UK retailers will get a chance to see the model at close quarters over the next few weeks following the recent Grays UK sales launch. Neil Mallett, Grays Marketing Manager, says " We developed some initial design concepts and we worked together on fine tuning them over the last few months - The timing of the Grays launch and the World Cup could not have been better, as it gives immediate on field visibility for the new model "

World Cup newcomer Ashley Jackson lived upto his star billing status here in Delhi as he scored England's opening goal of the tournament. His penalty corner strike was despatched high into the top right hand corner sending a message out to all keepers ere of the threat he now represents from the top of the circle. Coincidently, Jackson's was goal was the first against Austrlaia in at the World Cup since Grays legend Jon Potter scored in 1986.

Grays sponsored Spannish captain Pol Amat led his Spannish team to an opening day victory after coming behind against South Africa in the tournaments opening game. In a close game the turning point came midway through the second half when Spain scored two unanswered goals to break South African resistance.

However the first day will be long remembered for the pulsating atmosphere created by the expectant Indian crowd for the game with great rivals Pakistan. The special atmosphere created by this game is like no other and the joyous crowd were not disappointed this time as India ran out winners by 4-1, breathing even more life into opening day of the World Cup tournament.

One final word on the first day was when arriving at the ground, hockey enthusiasts were subjected to the most stringent of security measures. There is a long list of items you are not allowed to take into the ground - even to the extent that one spectator was not allowed to take in a pen in order to do his work.