HOCKEY: Despite Jamie Dwyer's 11th goal since March, the Kookaburras fell 3-1 to hosts Great Britain in their first return to London's Olympic Park since winning bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Kookaburras coach Graham Reid said afterwards that despite defeat he is "not too concerned", adding, "We were trying a few things today. It was a good opportunity for a hit out and it's given us a bit of clarity for what we want to work on.

"We had passages of good play but just couldn't string it together and finish them off. There was a lack of connectedness between the lines.

"Credit to GB. They came out to play in front of a large home crowd."

It was a significant turn around for Great Britain with 15 of their 18-man squad having suffered a 5-0 reverse to the Kookaburras when England and Australia clashed at last year's World Cup, which the Kookaburras went on to win.

Australia welcomed back Kieran Govers from a hamstring injury for his 100th international appearance in the first of two warm-up matches for the World League Semi Final in Antwerp, starting next weekend.

After a delayed start to allow the capacity crowd to enter, the Kookaburras found themselves behind to an early Sam Ward reverse stick deflection after just seven minutes.

Centurion Govers and Dwyer combined shortly after the start of the second quarter to put Australia back on terms and the 36 year-old, five times World Player of the Year, Dwyer, was soon denied a second by British goalkeeper George Pinner.

The Kookaburras found themselves behind again midway through the third period when GB's Alastair Brogdon finished a neat team move.

The Australian goal then survived as Sam Ward's effort cannoned back off the post before, at the other end, Jake Whetton flashed an effort through the British circle.

But as the match entered its final moments it was Great Britain that seized the initiative, netting a third goal through Iain Lewers to seal a first victory for GB over Australia since the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Lewers' flick over Tyler Lovell came after the goalkeeper had initially denied Ashley Jackson from a penalty corner, the ball rebounding to Lewers for a close range finish.

Of Kieran Govers' 100-cap career, which has been frequently interrupted by injury, Graham Reid said, "It's been five and a half years since his debut. It was good for him to get back into the group again and get used to how we are playing."

The Kookaburras and GB meet again in their second encounter on Monday (9pm AEST).


Kookaburras squad v Great Britain
Name (Hometown/State) Caps/Goals
Started
Kiel Brown (Toowoomba, QLD) 160/6
Andrew Charter (Canberra, ACT) 90/0
Chris Ciriello (Melbourne, Victoria) 162/103
Jamie Dwyer (Rockhampton, QLD) 333/217
Kieran Govers (Wollongong, NSW) 100/52
Fergus Kavanagh (Geraldton, WA) 198/14
Mark Knowles (Rockhampton, QLD) 257/22
Eddie Ockenden (Hobart, TAS) 244/61
Jake Whetton (Brisbane, QLD) 89/37
Tristan White (Wollongong, NSW) 55/3
Aran Zalewski (Margaret River, WA) 58/4

Used Substitutes
Daniel Beale (Brisbane, QLD) 56/10
Tim Deavin (Launceston, Tasmania) 107/5
Matt Gohdes (Rockhampton, QLD) 123/37
Blake Govers (Wollongong, NSW) 4/3
Tyler Lovell (Perth, WA) 42/0
Simon Orchard (Maitland, NSW) 170/50
Matthew Swann (Mackay, QLD) 114/5


Match Schedule
15 June - Test: Kookaburras v Great Britain, Bisham Abbey
21 June - 18:00hrs / 02:00hrs (+1) - World League: Kookaburras v France
24 June - 20:00hrs / 04:00hrs (+1) - World League: Kookaburras v Pakistan
26 June - 20:00hrs / 04:00hrs (+1) - World League: Kookaburras v Poland
28 June - 16:00hrs / 00:00hrs (+1) - World League: Kookaburras v India
1 July - TBC - World League: Quarter Final
3 July - TBC - World League: Semi Final / Classification
5 July - TBC - World League: Medal Matches / Classification

Broadcast
In Australia, Fox Sports will show the Kookaburras' matches (and those of the Hockeyroos) live from the World League. Online, starsports.com will have matches and highlights from the whole tournament. Hockey Australia is awaiting confirmation from FIH as to whether the Australian matches will be available to watch online.

HOCKEY AUSTRALIA