Kookaburras on song as Red Lions lose bite
An intriguing match between the world number one team and the up and coming Red Lions of Belgium saw the reigning World Cup holders emerge with a 3-1 win, but only after a fine performance by the Kookaburra’s ‘keeper Andrew Charter and his back line kept Tom Boon and his medal-hungry teammates at bay.
First blood almost went to the Red Lions when Thomas Briels ran through the Australian defence and passed to Simon Gougnard who unleashed a shot that flew past Charter. Seconds later Australia took the initiative and won a penalty corner. Kieran Govers’ shot brought out the best of Vincent Vanash, but even he couldn’t stop the thunderbolt of a drag flick from Chris Ciriello (7′) that gave Australia a 1-0 lead just three minutes later.
“I was really pleased that we got off to a good start. Vincent (Vanash) is a good ‘keeper so to be 2-0 up in the early stages was good.”
The hard-working Australian team, led from the front by Glenn Turner then turned over the Belgium defence with a quick break. Turner’s pass to Jacob Whetton (9′) was inch perfect and the midfielder slotted home to extend the lead to 2-0.
The two quick goals rocked Belgium and much of the first half saw the Australians dominating play, with Jamie Dwyer firing just wide and Aran Zalewski putting in a devastating run down the centre of the pitch, only to be foiled by a packed Belgium defence.
There were moments of hope for the Red Lions in the closing moments of the first half. Cedric Charlier had a mid-air duel with Charter, which resulted in a penalty corner; and Thomas Briel had a moment of brilliance when he received a ball, turned and fired a shot that was saved by the cat-like reactions of the Kookaburra’s ‘keeper.
Australia further extended their lead in the opening minutes of the second half through a fabulous reverse stick shot from Eddie Ockenden (36′) – just reward for a busy and productive performance from the midfielder.
Conversely, this third goal seemed to settle the Belgium team and the second half was a much more even affair. In very untypical fashion Tom Boon missed a chance in front of the circle when a ball was fired in and the striker failed to get a touch on it. His half-hearted celebration convinced no-one, but there was a real celebration on 45 minutes when Sebastien Dockier scored from a penalty corner. Despite a determined last few minutes, Belgium were unable to make further inroads and the match finished with Australia continuing to dominate Pool A with maximum points from three matches.
Belgium’s Felix Denayer was sanguine about the result: “We knew they would come at us hard and we know they are a very good side. We hope to win the rest of our games in the pool and then have a rematch in the final.”
His coach, Marc Lammers was equally realistic. “We didn’t perform at our best today. If you want to win against Australia you have to cope with them in the first 10 minutes and we didn’t do that today.”
Ric Charlesworth, coach to the Kookaburras said: “I wasn’t happy with some parts of our game today. But I am always proud of of our team and I love the way they play. But we had two lapses in the first half when we conceded two penalty corners and we fell asleep in the second half when we conceded a goal. I am not happy with that and we need to address that.”