HOCKEY: Australia took on Great Britain tonight at the Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh Malaysia, defeating them 2 – 1 as captain Matt Swann celebrated his 150th international cap.
Great Britain were first off the mark with a penalty corner opportunity after the ball hit the foot of Jeremy Hayward inside their circle, however the flick from Ollie Willars was defended by Australian goalkeeper Andrew Charter.
Only a minute later and the Kookaburras were on for a chance after Eddie Ockenden made a break for it, but this time it was the goalkeeper from Great Britain, Harry Gibson, who defended the goal.
The first half of the game was an evenly matched thirty minutes which came to an end with both teams still looking to score.
With just a minute to go in the third quarter, the Kookaburras finally took the lead. A scramble in front of the Australian goal saw Trent Mitton flick the ball up past goalkeeper Harry Gibson to score the first of the match, giving Australia the edge going into the final 15 minutes of play.
After six fraught minutes of play in the final quarter, Mark Gleghorne levelled the playing field for Great Britain, breaking away from the group to sneak a field goal in past Australian keeper Tyler Lovell.
One minute on and the Kookaburras reclaimed the lead, a penalty corner goal from Matt Dawson sailing in past Gibson.
With only 60 seconds left in the match Great Britain had three chances at penalty corner goals to even the score but the Kookaburras defence was on point, knocking away each attempt and ultimately giving them a 2 – 1 win over Great Britain.
Kookaburras head coach Colin Batch said: “Tonight was a special night with Matt Swann’s 150th game. We celebrated the milestone so that was a positive, but a bit of a dampener was that Flynn Ogilvie has injured his leg so we’re investigating that at the moment and we’ll know in the next 24 hours how severe it is.
“Trent Mitton’s goal was really outstanding, and then Great Britain levelled but we were able to respond with a penalty corner from Matt Dawson. We’re really finding our way at the moment which is fantastic.
“We are looking forward to the rest day tomorrow and then heading into the last couple of games refreshed.”
The Kookaburras next play Japan on Friday, May 5 at 6.05pm AWST / 8.05pm AEST.
Hockey Australia
