HOCKEY: Debutant Joshua Beltz’ first international goal was the highlight of the Kookaburras’ 17-0 win over Fiji in their first pool match of Oceania Cup in Stratford, New Zealand.
Kookaburras coach Paul Gaudoin said, “It was great to start off with a strong win, however, we didn’t play as well as we would have liked. It was pleasing to see Josh play his first match and scoring his first goal with the boys today. We will now look ahead to tomorrow’s match against a strong New Zealand team.”
New South Wales’ Blake Govers opened the floodgates for the Kookaburras, scoring from a penalty stroke four minutes after the starting whistle. Additional strikes from Matthew Dawson, Blake Govers, Trent Mitton and Flynn Ogilvie, coupled with doubles from Chris Ciriello and Glenn Turner, pushed the Kookaburras in front with a comfortable 9-0 lead coming into halftime.
In the second half, 11 minutes apart, Goulburn’s Glenn Turner and Rockhampton's Jamie Dwyer slotted four field goals past their opposition’s goalkeeper Beniamino Lutua. Two strikes followed from Trent Mitton and another from Blake Govers, sealing him a hat-trick for the match.
It was at the 57th minute mark that Joshua Beltz topped his debut match off with his first international goal off the back of a penalty stroke, sealing the Kookaburras a 17-0 win on the final siren.
It was a key milestone match for 20 year-old Tasmanian Joshua Beltz, who made his debut in the Kookaburras’ kit alongside fellow Tasmanian idols Eddie Ockenden and Tim Deavin. Joshua was presented his official Kookaburras jersey prior to the match by assistant coach/former Kookaburra David Guest.
“It was a really exciting moment. Obviously I grew up watching these guys play, so it was good to finally get out there after training with them for ten months and have a good game. It took a little while to get my first touch, however, once it happened I just tried to enjoy it from then on,” Beltz said.
The Kookaburras will now go head-to-head with Trans-Tasman rivals the New Zealand Black Sticks tomorrow at 15:30pm AEDT.
Kookaburras Squad
Athlete (Hometown, State) caps/goals
Started
Joshua Beltz (Hobart, TAS) 1/1
Matthew Dawson (Central Coast, NSW) 21/2
Jamie Dwyer (Rockhampton, QLD) 342/224
Matt Gohdes (Rockhampton, QLD) 132/39
Blake Govers (Wollongong, NSW) 14/14
Fergus Kavanagh (Geraldton, WA) 207/14
Mark Knowles (Rockhampton, QLD) 266/22
Tyler Lovell (Perth, WA) 51/0
Eddie Ockenden (Hobart, TAS) 253/62
Flynn Ogilvie (Wollongong, NSW) 8/2
Glenn Turner (Goulburn, NSW) 115/83
Used Substitute
Joel Carroll (Darwin, NT) 99/2
Tristan Clemons (Bunbury, WA) 22/0
Chris Ciriello (Melbourne, VIC) 171/112
Tom Craig (Lane Cove, NSW) 10/1
Tim Deavin (Launceston, TAS) 114/5
Trent Mitton (Perth, WA) 69/23
Aran Zalewski (Margaret River, WA) 67/6
Kookaburras’ Oceania Cup Fixtures
22 October: Kookaburras v New Zealand (15:30 AEDT)
24 October: Kookaburras v Samoa (08:00 AEDT)
25 October: Medal Matches – Gold Medal (14:00 AEDT) / Bronze Medal (09:30 AEDT)
Broadcast
In Australia, all Australian pool matches will be available to watch live online and the medal matches will be shown on-delay on Fox Sports. For Oceania Cup broadcast information, click here.
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