HOCKEY: The Australian Burras have completed a clean sweep of the round robin fixtures at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) men’s hockey tournament after successfully defeating Malaysia 3-1 on Saturday morning.

The result ensured that Australia is the first team through to the gold medal match in the men’s draw.

“I was happy with the first half, not necessarily the second half but of course we go into every match trying to win,” Australia Burra’s coach Jay Stacey said after the victory. “We dropped away a lot in the second half so we’ve got some areas to improve in before the final.”

Jack Elliot continued his stellar tournament by opening the scoring with a field goal in the 14th minute after what had been an evenly poised start to the match.

The Burras were the more dominant side as the first half progressed and they were able to double their lead when Will Gilmour converted another field goal inside the last 10 minutes.

Malaysia let their best first half opportunity slip with less than five minutes on the clock when a field goal sailed over the bar which left them trailing 2-0 at the break.

The second half continued much like the first as both teams created opportunities but were able to make them count.

Malaysia missed a golden opportunity to peg a goal back when they were awarded a penalty stroke midway through the second half but the shot never troubled Australian goalkeeper Edward Chittleborough as it went wide.

Australia capitalised on the missed opportunity when Cameron Joyce converted a penalty corner in the 61st minute giving the Burra’s some breathing space at 3-0.

Malaysia scored a consolation goal with just two minutes left on the clock but the damage was already done as Australia finished 3-1 victors.

Slow starts are a concerning point for Malaysian coach Lim Chiow Chuan after his side took their time to settle into the match against a quality Australian side.

“I was quite pleased with the performance in the second half but not the first, we lost a lot of balls in transition play in midfield which was causing us a lot of problems,” the Malaysian coach said. “We gave away too many short corners which is crazy against a team like Australia.”

Beau Greenway
olympics.com.au