England slammed over lack of team spirit

13 April 2012

Deposed Nations Cup champions England have been accused of lacking team spirit after being humbled by semi-final bound Northern Ireland.

The Ulster trio of captain Joe Swail, Terry Murphy and Gerard Greene defeated the title holders 4-2 in Reading last night to book their place in the last four.

Murphy, involved in a remarkably high scoring frame with English skipper John Parrott, said he can pinpoint the reason for his country's surprise victory.

"I feel I'm speaking for all my team-mates when I say that England's team spirit was non existent," said Murphy.

"I could tell from their body language. It was almost as if they didn't want to be there. They didn't seem to be bothered.

"But that shouldn't take anything away from our win. We've just beaten the top seeds and so there's no reason why we can't go on and win the title."

Northern Ireland's win - their second of the competition - ensured they topped Group A, ahead of the Republic of Ireland.

It's likely they will play the winners of today's Group B game between Thailand and Scotland.

The Republic of Ireland are likely to meet 1999 champions Wales who boast world champion Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens and Dominic Dale.

Murphy's main contribution was beating Parrott in a third frame that finished with the 1991 world and UK champion from Liverpool giving away 67 points in fouls.

The final aggregate of 168 was just nine short of the record for a televised match - which involved Cliff Thorburn and Dennis Taylor in

1987.

Parrott was disconsolate after his performance. "There was a touch of the Anne Robinson's about the way I played," said Parrott, who was certainly the weakest link.

Michael Judge earned the Republic of Ireland their semi-final spot by beating China's Husimu Tuerxen in a seventh frame decider.

Wales are already through irrespective of their result against Malta today but Scotland must avoid defeat by Thailand to complete the semi-final line-up.

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