HOCKEY: The Kookaburras took on Malaysia in their second match of the Azlan Shah Cup on Saturday night. The team had a strong start with two penalty corner attempts in the first quarter, but Malaysia’s defending was on point.
Chris Ciriello took a penalty corner flick, with the goal stopped short by Malaysian goalkeeper Hairi Abdul Rahman. Jamie Dwyer then slotted the ball in to goal, only for it to be disallowed for a lifting infringement. Hairi Abdul Rahman showed his worth in his senior team debut by defending another penalty corner from the Australian team.
Into the second quarter and both Dwyer and Tom Craig narrowly missed shots at goal. Malaysian Captain Razie Rahim finally got the scoreboard into action with a penalty corner goal 24 minutes into the game.
Jake Whetton was quick to get the game back on an even playing field with a tidy flick resulting in a field goal for Australia. At half time the game was deadlocked.
Malaysia was the first with a chance to score in the third quarter, with Rahim taking aim for a second goal but it was blocked with ease thanks to the quick defending of goalkeeper Tyler Lovell.
The Kookaburras took the opportunity to claw the game back with three goals in two minutes thanks to two field goals courtesy of Flynn Ogilvie and a field goal from Matt Gohdes.
Into the fourth quarter and Tom Craig took out a field goal for Australia extending the lead to 5 – 1 from Malaysia with only minutes to go until the final siren.
Kookaburras Head Coach, Graham Reid said: “We created a lot more opportunities in tonight’s game. We started the best we have in a while, and the first and third quarters were really great for us.
“We still have a lot more work to do because we did give them a lot of chances, but the score was more along the lines of what it should have been this evening.”
The Kookaburras next take on Pakistan on Sunday at 6.05pm AWST / 8.05pm AEST.
Results & Fixtures, today
Japan 1 – 3 Canada
New Zealand 5 – 3 Pakistan
Australia 5 – 1 Malaysia
Kookaburras’ squad v India
Started
Blake Govers (Wollongong, NSW) 19/17
Jeremy Hayward (Darwin, NT) 47/17
Fergus Kavanagh (Gerladton, WA) 218/15
Mark Knowles (Rockhampton, QLD) 277/22
Eddie Ockenden (Hobart, TAS) 264/64
Jacob Whetton (Brisbane, QLD) 101/44
Tom Craig (Lane Cove, NSW) 18/16
Matthew Dawson (Killarney Vale, NSW) 34/6
Simon Orchard (Maitland, NSW) 189/55
Tyler Lovell (Perth, WA) 61/0
Flynn Ogilvie (Wollongong, NSW) 21/10
Used Substitute
Jamie Dwyer (Rockhampton, QLD) 353/234
Matthew Gohdes (Rockhampton, QLD) 145/48
Tristan White (Wollongong, NSW) 68/3
Chris Ciriello (Melbourne, VIC) 179/114
Aran Zalewski (Margaret River, WA) 79/9
Unused Substitute
Andrew Charter (Canberra, ACT) 105/0
Matthew Swann (Mackay, QLD) 129/6
Kookaburras’ fixtures
Sunday 10 April – Kookaburras vs Pakistan – 6.05pm AWST / 8.05pm AEST
Tuesday 12 April – Kookaburras vs New Zealand - 4.05pm AWST / 6.05pm AEST
Wednesday 13 April – Kookaburras vs Japan – 6.05pm AWST / 8.05pm AEST
Friday 15 April – Kookaburras vs Canada - 6.05pm AWST / 8.05pm AEST
Saturday 16 April - TBC
HOCKEY AUSTRALIA
