Buoyed from a big opening match win, the Australian boys’ hockey team went into their second round match against Ghana tonight, confident but not complacent.

Despite giving it their all, the young Aussies proved too strong for the African nation, defeating them 8-0, in a game where the score line did not befit the tough game that played out.

The first point was on the board in the fifth minute, when Queensland teenager Daniel Beale scored a field goal.

With both teams playing a fast, rough game in the opening minutes, Australia took an early blow with midfielder Jayshaan Randhawa hitting the deck in a clash with his Ghanaian opponent. Already suffering an injury to his knee sustained in training, Randhawa came out of play and sat out the rest of the game.

Beale soon after got a mouthful of Sengkang artificial grass, in a collision with Joseph Ashaley earning the young Ghanaian a green card.

Last night’s goal scoring guru Oscar Wookey was next to step up to the plate, clocking a flawless goal off a penalty corner to bring the Aussie total to 3-0.

With 15 minutes remaining in the first half, the Aussies had a shot at goal with a penalty corner taken by Beale. With a forced error in goal, a penalty stroke was awarded and number 10, Luke Noblett, struck Australia’s fourth goal of the game.

Following another clean Wookey goal of a penalty corner, Ghana looked to crack onto the scoreboard. With 10 seconds remaining in the first half, a shot flew past the keeper before midfielder Jake Farrell launched himself into the net, stopping the ball and saving the goal.

Just a few minutes into the second half, Casey Hammond clocked a ball into the goal, but Australia’s celebrations were short lived, conceding a penalty corner soon after although Ghana were unable to capitalise.

Midfielder Ryan Edge made quite possibly the play of the game when he took a penalty corner in the 46th minute, pushing the ball into play only to receive it back like a boomerang and send it home for Australia’s seventh goal of the game.

Just two minutes later, 15-year-old Casey Hammond notched up his first Youth Olympic point, scoring a field goal that would be Australia’s last for the night.

A testament to the Australian team’s skill and tactical play, the Ghanaian team was outnumbered and overwhelmed with the green and golds dominating the field and shutting the gate on the game, 8-0.

Seventeen-year-old Victorian athlete Byron Walton was captain of the Aussies tonight, and overall was pleased with the team’s performance.

“It was a bit scrappy in pieces,” he said of the game. “That’s what you get sometimes though and I think we played well in the end.”

“It was an amazing honour to be the team captain tonight, to be captain for my country,” Walton said.

“I was excited to lead my team out tonight. We had good preparation and came out to win.”

Despite the 8-1 score line in last night’s match against Singapore, assistant coach Andrew Smith knew his team had a lot to work on before today’s match.

“We didn’t know a lot about Ghana, so we had to come in respecting them and play it like we would any other game,” Smith said.

The team will tomorrow have a rest day, before facing Belgium on Friday.

Alice Wheeler
AOC