HOCKEY: Jamie Dwyer’s early strike helped seal the Kookaburras a 3-1 victory in their second pool match of the Oceania Cup against Trans-Tasman rivals the New Zealand Black Sticks in Stratford, New Zealand on Thursday.

Kookaburras coach Paul Gaudoin said, “This is the first part of two important matches for us here and we tried to focus on getting ourselves a solid game. I was pleased with our efforts, our ball handling was better and we improved on a few technical areas today. 

“I think our younger guys performed reasonably well and our senior guys led by example. I’m not satisfied with our performance yet, as I think there’s still areas we want to continue to improve on, however, getting two quality matches is important and I think they are relishing that opportunity.”

Queensland’s Jamie Dwyer put the Kookaburras on the scoreboard 20 seconds after the starting whistle, slotting a quick field goal behind the Black Sticks goalkeeper, Kyle Pontifex, pushing Australia in front with a 1-0 lead. 

Featuring fast pace and world class skills, the Kookaburras - world number one – and the Black Sticks - world number seven - brought international hockey to Stratford for the third time.

The action started to heat up in the second half, when the Kookaburras managed to penetrate their attacking circle on numerous occasions, however, couldn’t seem to break through the Black Sticks rock-solid defence.

It was at the 45th minute mark that the Kookaburras worked themselves a critical penalty corner opportunity to break away from the Kiwis. Standing at the top of the Australian battery, Blake Govers’ drag flick slipped only marginally wide of the goal. 

At the 51st minute, New South Wales’ Tom Craig found himself in the right place at the right time, getting a last minute deflection into the back of the net, 2-0.

It was five minutes out from the final siren that New Zealand’s forward Hugo Inglis netted a quick on-target field goal, helping to half the deficit with Australia 2-1.

Two minutes later, the spotlight quickly turned to Glenn Turner after he eliminated Simon Child and flicked the ball into the bottom left of the goal, sealing the Kookaburras a 3-1 win. 

It was a key milestone match for Darwin’s Joel Carroll, who celebrated his 100th match playing in the Kookaburras’ kit. Joel joined the Kookaburras in 2009 and was part of the 2012 London Olympic Games squad.

The Kookaburras will meet Samoa on Saturday in their final pool match of the Oceania Cup before finals on Sunday at 08:00am AEDT / 04:00am AWST. The match will be streamed live back home in Australia via hockeynz.co.nz/video.

Kookaburras Squad
Athlete (Hometown, State) caps/goals
Started
Joel Carroll (Darwin, NT) 100/2
Tristan Clemons (Bunbury, WA) 23/0
Chris Ciriello (Melbourne, VIC) 172/112
Tom Craig (Lane Cove, NSW) 11/2
Tim Deavin (Launceston, TAS) 115/5
Jamie Dwyer (Rockhampton, QLD) 343/225
Matt Gohdes (Rockhampton, QLD) 133/39
Fergus Kavanagh (Geraldton, WA) 208/14
Mark Knowles (Rockhampton, QLD) 267/22
Trent Mitton (Perth, WA) 70/23
Aran Zalewski (Margaret River, WA) 68/6
                                                                           
Used Substitute
Joshua Beltz (Hobart, TAS) 2/1
Matthew Dawson (Central Coast, NSW) 22/2
Blake Govers (Wollongong, NSW) 15/14
Tyler Lovell (Perth, WA) 52/0
Eddie Ockenden (Hobart, TAS) 254/62
Flynn Ogilvie (Wollongong, NSW) 9/2   
Glenn Turner (Goulburn, NSW) 116/84                                                                                  
                                          
Kookaburras’ Oceania Cup Fixtures
24 October: Kookaburras v Samoa (08:00 AEDT)
25 October: Medal Matches – Gold Medal (14:00 AEDT) / Bronze Medal (09:30 AEDT)

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