HOCKEY: The Australian Men's Hockey Team claimed bronze at the Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar after defeating hosts India 2-1 with their recently new and younger squad.
Two goals from Eddie Ockenden and Matt Gohdes was enough for the Team to break ties with the host nation Sunday night, after Lalit Upadhyay scored India’s only goal of the match in the third quarter.
Speaking after the match, Head Coach Graham Reid said, “We played well in halves, the last quarter was a little bit frantic which was disappointing, however, we were able to come away with a win tonight.
“When I look back over the past week, I can see the group has progressed by getting better. It was a much tighter game tonight and we gave India less opportunities than when we recently played them in the Perth Tests last month. The boys will now be able to rest and recover and we will look at preparation for Rio in 2015.”
Reid discussed the positive impact of bringing a fairly new and younger squad to the tournament, he added, “This tournament has been a great learning experience for the whole team. They have been developing a lot each day and we as coaching staff have worked very hard in creating a good learning environment for them, which was the main objective of this trip.”
Nine minutes into the start of the match, India found themselves with an early opportunity. Picking up Tim Deavin’s miss-trap, Akashdeep Singh showcased great skill moving the ball around Australian defenders to fire a back stick tomahawk towards the goal. Misjudging his target, Akashdeep sent the ball high of the goal and out of reach, leaving the score 0-0.
Captain, Eddie Ockenden opened the scoring for Australia after a well worked team goal with help from teammate Jake Whetton. Ockenden intercepted an oncoming ball from Whetton, delivering the ball on target and past India’s goalkeeper Shreejesh Parattu in the 18th minute of the match, pushing Australia in front with the lead 1-0.
Australian goalkeeper Tyler Lovell alongside the green and gold defence, held off India’s attacks for the first two quarters of the match.
Back onto the field for the third quarter, India managed to equalise in the 42nd minute. A scrambled goal coming off the back of a follow up penalty corner, Lalit Upadhyay was able to quickly slot the ball behind Australian goalkeeper Lovell to level score 1-1. Upadhyay’s goal carried India back into the game, giving India a second chance to claim bronze.
Deadlocked 1-1 for another 10 minutes, the match started to heat up. Matt Gohdes broke the score 2-1 after Jake Whetton set up the perfect scenario. Launching himself at the ball, Gohdes was able to get the rebound off the goalkeepers pads and past Parattu into the net, giving Australia the lead, and the final 2-1 win.
Tasmanian, Tim Deavin was recognised for playing his 100th cap for the Australian men’s hockey team prior to the bronze medal final. Deavin started playing for the Kookaburras back in 2010 and is representing the green and gold in his third Champions Trophy tournament this year.
Capping off the win and a great performance, forward Jake Whetton was awarded Hero Man of the Match.
The team will now take a well-earned break after a successful year with a World Cup and Commonwealth Games gold medal. A handful of the men will return to India in January to participate in the third season of the Hockey India League.
Final Results
7th/8th: England 3-2 Belgium
5th/6th: Argentina 1-4 Netherlands
Bronze medal final: Australia 2-1 India
Gold medal final: Germany 2-0 Pakistan
Hockey Australia
