HOCKEY: Kathryn Slattery’s deflection four minutes into the second quarter and Gabrielle Nance’s first international goal helped the Hockeyroos seal a 2-0 victory over Korea in their final match of the series.
Dominating their attacking half in the first quarter, the Hockeyroos created themselves valuable opportunities, however, struggled to break through a robust Korean defence with goalkeeper Ji Soo Jang denying Australia’s firepower.
Switching up the play in the second quarter paid dividends for the girls in green and gold. Four minutes after the quarter time siren, Western Australian Kathryn Slattery deflected the ball past Jang and into the back on the net, setting the Hockeyroos up with a 1-0 lead.
Following three minutes later, Hockeyroos forward Gabrielle Nance found herself eliminating Korean defenders which opened up a valuable opportunity to shoot from the edge of the circle. Her powerful strike was unwittingly deflected into the goal by the Korean defender to hand Nance her first international goal.
In the third quarter, the Hockeyroos received their first penalty corner opportunity in the 33rd minute. At the top of the Hockeyroos battery, recent debutant Madison Fitzpatrick fired a powerful drag flick, however, Korean substitute keeper Heabin Jung stretched out denying her access.
It was the Korean forwards keeping Australian goalkeeper Ashlee Wells on her toes in the final 15 minutes of play. Cool, calm and collected, Wells blocked several oncoming opportunities from Korea, after they broke through a lapsed Australian defence.
Running into the circle with minutes remaining on the clock, Kathryn Slattery’s intentions were clear, however, the pressure from the Korean defence had her struggling to keep the ball under control.
Hockeyroos coach Adam Commens said, “It was excellent that we got the result but I think we were a little bit loose in the back. They [Korea] created too many chances for my liking.
“There were some really good pieces of play and we were unlucky not to score a few more than we did, which is positive. We just need to tighten up some things in the back and then we’ll have a pretty good team performance.”
Reflecting on the national women’s camp and Korean series over the past week, Commens added, “It’s been a great couple of weeks. We saw 36 young players that are coming through and then from those 36 we’ve used 23 of them in this series. It’s a great opportunity for those players to play against a quality international opponent and to see where they sit in terms of their selection in the lead up to the Olympic squad selection at the end of the year.
“I’m really happy with what I’ve seen. There’s a number of young players that have taken a big step since the start of the year and certainly we’ve got a great batch of youngsters coming through. They’ll be vying for those valuable spots for the Olympic spots in Rio.”
The Hockeyroos will now look towards the Oceania Cup in New Zealand in October, where they will face trans-Tasman rivals the New Zealand Black Sticks, Fiji and Samoa before heading across to Argentina to play in the 2015 World League finals in December. Before then, Australia’s players will return to play for their home state and territory teams in the Australian Hockey League in Sydney, which begins 25 September.
Hockeyroos Squad
Athlete (Hometown, State) caps/goals
Started
Teneal Attard (Mackay, QLD) 216/10
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT) 81/2
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA) 70/6
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD) 83/2
Jodie Kenny (Wamuran, QLD) 146/88
Stephanie Kershaw (Townsville, QLD) 3/1
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA) 73/7
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT) 62/9
Kathryn Slattery (South Stirling, WA) 25/8
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW) 127/52
Ashlee Wells (Morwell, VIC) 54/0
Used Substitute
Laura Barden (Kew, VIC) 3/0
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, NSW^) 3/1
Savannah Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, NSW^) 5/0
Kate Hanna (Constitution Hill, NSW) 4/0
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW) 14/0
Gabrielle Nance (Kingscliff, NSW*) 11/1
Did Not Play
Mathilda Carmichael (Willoughby, NSW) 25/1
Anna Flanagan (Canberra, ACT) 151/34
Kate Jenner (Tamworth, NSW) 116/1
Rachael Lynch (Melbourne, VIC) 126/0
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC) 163/32
Amelia Spence (Hobart, TAS) 11/1
Renee Taylor (Everton Park, QLD) 5/0
Mariah Williams (Parkes, NSW) 21/3
NOTE: The above athletes have come through the academies and institutes of sport in their home states and territories with the exception of the following:
^Madison and Savannah Fitzpatrick are scholarship holders at the Queensland Academy of Sport
*Gabrielle Nance is a graduate scholar of the South Australia Sports Institute
