Chinese Taipei were quickly back in the game with two close range goals from Kuo Chia Hao but with just 7 minutes gone a Joe Bedford penalty took England into a
3 – 2 lead.

Taipei continued to trouble England at close range and were soon even again as Chen Pin Fong brought the score to 3 – 3.

Hsieh Cheng Hsun’s mid range goal took Taipei into the lead for the first time in the game at 4 – 3 and this would clearly be a crucial moment in the game for England and should Taipei gain the momentum they would likely prove unstoppable.

Many online spectators who had no doubt become excited at the flicker of video on their computer screens for the first time this week were soon to be brought back down to earth as the poor quality of the product made it little more than a series of still pictures which made for poor viewing to put it mildly.

With 15 minutes gone Luke Francis took England into the lead once again from close range but seconds later the score was even once again as Wu Chun Hsien scored again from close range.

The KOC/IKF picture slideshow made it impossible for those online to get any sense of where the game might be heading but those in the UK will have have excited and maybe even hopeful after England’s promising start.

Hsieh Cheng Hsun took Taipei into the lead once again and England missed their chance to draw even as Johnny Nickerson missed from the penalty spot.

The big question now was whether the pressure might just start to be getting to Taipei just a little but without the video feed it was impossible for those not in Taiwan to judge.  

A still picture of Taipei spectators clapping suggested they had scored again and indeed that was the case as Kuo Chia Hao took the lead to 7 – 5 from close range.

With 10 minutes to go England coach colin Boys called a time out, presumably to try to tighten the English defending at close range but this game was never going to be won on defence and England would need to start scoring goals if they were to have chance in this game.

With 6 minutes to the half time break Luke Francis brought England back into the game with a goal from mid range and maybe Taipei were finally starting to feel the pressure and defeat to England would be a total disaster for them at this stage, something they would be well aware of

Chen Pin Fong extended the Taipei lead to 8 – 6 from mid range and England heading into the half time break well in contention the big question whether England coach Colin Boy’s would look to make any tactical changes in the 2^nd half.

Clearly Taipei would come out in the 2^nd half with all guns blazing but either way the first 5 – 10 minutes of the 2^nd period would likely prove crucial.

All of Taipei’s first half goals had come from their male players, and the majority of those had been from close range and as yet Taipei had not need to score from greater distances.

As the 2^nd period began the question was answered as Colin Boys made an attacking substitution replacing Charmaigne Francis with Aimee Evans.      

Taipei got off to the start the wanted as Hsieh Cheng Hsun scored again from mid range and the lead was extended as Chu Shu Ping added another from a free pass to take the score to 10 – 6.

Joe England pulled England back into the game with a goal from the penalty spot but England’s failure to contain the Taipei male players at close range saw Taipei head into an 11 – 7 with goals from Wu and Kuo.

Otto Fabius brought England back again Chen Pin Fong extended the lead to 13 – 8 again from mid range with 17 minutes to go.

Wu Chun Hsien added another from mid range to take the score to 14 – 8 as Taipei began to pull away.

England continued to battle and Otto Fabius slotted home from the penalty spot with less than 15 minutes to go but seconds later Hsieh Cheng Hsun scored from mid range to take to the lead to 15 – 9.

Taipei then brought on Chou-Ying LI for Wan-Yao LUO .

As the England looked to be tiring in defence Huang Ling Fan took the lead to 16 – 9 with a trademark Taipei running in shot from close range but seconds later Joe Bedford hit back to bring England to within 6 at 16 – 10

With 7 minutes to go the game had slipped beyond England’s reach and all that was left was to play for pride in terms of the final score.

With 8 minutes to go Taipei replaced Lin Shiou Yun  with Lin Szu Yu and with just 4 minutes remaining Hsieh Cheng Hsun scored his 5^th goal of the game from close range to extend Taipei’s lead to 17 – 10.

With just 3 minutes remaining England Jonny Nickerson was replaced by Davesh Patel and Taipei replaced Wu Hsien Wu with Yu Liang Pan.

In the dying seconds Rebecca Woolmer was to have the last say of the game with a running in shot goal to take the final score to 17 – 11.

Hsieh Cheng Hsun was Taipei's leading scorer on the day with 5 goals while Joe Bedford topped an impressive performance with 4 goals for England.

England will likely draw some satisfaction from this result in that they pushed Taipei hard in the first half but as Belgium found out in their meeting with Taipei the result was determined by superior technical skill, in particular the ability to put the ball in the basket.

England now face the Czech Republic to see whether they will play in the 5th/6th or 7th/8th play off while Chinese Taipei head to what should prove a fascinating semi clash with Russia tomorrow with both semi finals likely to be somewhat more contested than has generally been the case in the past.

Full Day 6 Semi finals programme