WATER POLO: The Australian Men’s Water Polo Team have bounced back from their game one loss to defeat France 11-10 in game two of the preliminary rounds of the FINA World Championships in Budapest.
In a nail biting match, there was nothing between these two sides, with scores matched throughout with the final score going down to the wire.
Australian Head Coach Elvis Fatovic said both sides had a lot to play for which was clear throughout the game.
“You could see high anxiety on both side. There were ups and downs for both teams.
“We made some naive mistakes in the last quarter; without those we could have finished this game much earlier, but that’s quite a good lesson and experience for us, because most of our players had never played in a major tournament before,” he said.
Rio Olympian George Ford admitted it was a tough battle for the Aussie Sharks with the team set to take away many valuable lessons.
“Overall it is good to get a win - it was a must win game to go through to the next phase of the Tournament.
“We had some strong patches that we can take some confidence out of. But we did let ourselves down in defence so we need to go away and look at that game and work on our systems to come out against Italy,” said Ford.
It was a do or die match for both sides coming into the second game on the back of a loss. Scores were locked at half time and it was in the third quarter that the Aussies made their move with Captain Aaron Younger scoring three consecutive goals to put the Aussies in front by two leading into the final quarter.
The French were not about to go down without a fight and while the Aussie Sharks had a good lead throughout it came down to the final minute before a relieved Australian side could celebrate the one point victory.
The Aussies now turn their attention for the formidable Italian team who they’ll meet in the final preliminary round 22 July 5:30am (AEST).
FRANCE 10 AUSTRALIA 11
Quarters: 5-4, 1-2, 1-3, 3-2
Extra Man: FRA: 7/12. AUS: 3/14.
AUSTRALIA: Edward Slade, Timothy Putt, George Ford, Joseph Kayes (1), Nathan Power, Lachlan Edwards (1), Jarrod Gilchrist, Aaron Younger (3), Andrew Ford (1), James Fannon, Lachlan Hollis (3), Nicholas Brooks (2), Anthony Hrysanthos. Head Coach: Elvis Fatovic.
FRANCE: Remi Garsau, Remi Saudadier, Igor Kovacevic (1), Logan Piot, Dino Guillaume, Thibaut Simon (2), Ugo Crousillat (3), Michal Izdinsky (1), Mehdi Marzouki (2), Manuel Laversane, Mathieu Peisson, Alexandre Camarasa (1), Hugo Fontani. Head Coach: Hrvoje Hrestak.
Water Polo Australia
