HOCKEY: The Hockeyroos went down 1-0 to a dominate Great Britain side in their final Pool B match at the World League in Rosario after a second quarter strike by Helen Richardson-Walsh was enough to seal the deal.
Australia will either finish first or second in the final Pool B standings with their place ultimately laying in the hands of Argentina’s upcoming result against China, before determining their position in the quarter finals on Friday. Australia’s quarter final opponent will be confirmed following the conclusion of day three matches in Pool A.
Hockeyroos Head Coach Adam Commens said he was pleased with the girls’ first quarter performance, however, it was their execution in the circle that let them down today.
“After a great previous performance against Argentina, which we worked really well together with and without the ball, today this was lacking. We started off well and whilst we were behind at halftime we created enough chances in the second half, however, our skill execution and effort was not as good as our first two matches, which is disappointing.”
With their quarter final opponent unknown at this stage, Commens added, “We will need to prepare and do a lot better in our quarter final than what we did today. We will have a training session between now and then which will be about fine tuning and working on the things that didn’t go to plan today.”
It was a fairly even first quarter contest between the Hockeyroos and Great Britain with both teams’ forwards and defence in motion.
Receiving their first penalty corner of the match 10 minutes in, Hockeyroos’ Georgina Morgan tried her luck at the top of the battery, however, she was quickly run down by Great Britain’s first runner in defence. A follow up strike from Queenslander Jodie Kenny was quickly cleared wide and the score remained deadlocked 0-0.
Taking the foot of the pedal in the second quarter, Australia’s opportunities came and went with Great Britain quickly taking advantage of the situation.
At the 26th minute mark, teamwork paid dividends for Great Britain. Australia unable to eliminate Alex Danson breaking through the circle, Helen Richardson-Walsh, well positioned, picked up Danson’s pass and directed the ball into the back of the net, setting the opposition up with a 1-0 lead.
After the halftime break, the Hockeyroos defence managed to hold out any potential threat. Victorian goalkeeper Rachael Lynch was in fine form with her quick reflexes, showcasing diving saves on multiple occasions to deny Great Britain of any opportunity to push out the lead further.
As the final siren approached, Australia were unable to create a positive outcome with the ball in their attacking circle, resulting in Great Britain sealing a 1-0 victory and the three winning pool points.
The world number two Hockeyroos will face world number nine Germany in the quarter-final of the Argentina World League Final in Rosario (08:30am AEDT, Friday 11 December).
The match is live on Fox Sports 505.
Eyes are on securing a top-four place ahead of the semi-finals and medal matches on the weekend. The losing side will playoff for fifth to eight place classification.
Australia’s last competitive meeting against Germany was at the 2014 Champions Trophy in Mendoza, which Australia won 3-1.
At the 2013 World League Final, the two sides came face-to-face in the quarter-final which ended in a 1-1 draw on the final siren. Australia then went on to win 4-2 on a sudden death shoot-out.
Following the conclusion of the pool A phase earlier this morning, which had to be rescheduled due to bad weather, Australia’s women finished top in Pool B on six points courtesy of wins over China (1-0) and Argentina (2-1), and a loss to Great Britain (1-0). Germany finished at the bottom of the standings in Pool A, after losing to the Netherlands (5-1) and New Zealand (1-3), and a draw with Korea (1-1).
The other quarter-finals see 2013 defending champions the Netherlands take on hosts Argentina, Great Britain to play the New Zealand Black Sticks, and China to face Korea.
Argentina World League Final quarter-finals
Friday 11 December 2015
03:00am AEDT – QF1 – China v Korea (live on Fox Sports 505)
06:00am AEDT – QF2 – New Zealand v Great Britain (live on Fox Sports 505)
08:30am AEDT – QF3 – Australia v Germany (live on Fox Sports 505)
11:00am AEDT – QF4 – Netherlands v Argentina (live on Fox Sports 505)
Hockey Australia's tournament media guide is available to download here.
Hockeyroos' squad v Great Britain
Started
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD) 313/68
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA) 75/6
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD) 87/8
Jodie Kenny (Wamuran, QLD) 151/92
Rachael Lynch (Warrandyte, VIC) 132/0
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA) 82/8
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW) 18/2
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC) 165/32
Kathryn Slattery (South Stirling, WA) 30/8
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW) 132/56
Mariah Williams (Parkes, NSW) 26/4
Used Substitute
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT) 86/2
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, NSW) [QAS athlete] 8/3
Gabrielle Nance (Kingscliff, NSW) [SASI athlete] 13/1
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA) 188/66
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT) 67/12
Ashlee Wells (Moe, VIC) 60/0
Renee Taylor (Everton Park, QLD) 6/0
Hockey Australia
