WATER POLO: Match reports from the FINA World League Super Final in Dubai where the Australian men's team hopes to cruise through to the final games.
BRONZE MEDAL MATCH: Aussies lose thriller
An extra time thriller has seen the Australian men’s water polo team, the Aussie Sharks, suffer a fighting 12-9 loss to Montenegro in the bronze medal game at the FINA World League Super Final in Dubai.
Despite both sides going goal for goal for the entirety of the encounter, the loss was a bitter pill to swallow for the Aussies, who had led for the majority of the match, only to see Montenegro come from behind to seal the win in a penalty shootout.
Highlights for Australia included Aidan Roach opening the game with two goals in quick succession, as well as an outstanding swimming effort by the London Olympian to score in the final quarter, while Aaron Younger showed his offensive diversity with a double in the third period.
The first quarter proved to set the pace for the game, with the Sharks jumping out to an early one goal lead. The match had tightened up by half time with Montenegro closing the deficit as the teams were even at four goals apiece.
Much like the opening half, it was the Aussies who struck first in the third stanza to again secure the lead, which they held on to, with the score 6-5 at the final exchange.
It was Montenegro who scored first in the final quarter as they upped the pressure on the Sharks. A goal from Billy Miller was seemingly the game winner for the Aussies with just 40 seconds remaining, until Montenegro responded, sending the match into extra time.
The shootout started well for the Sharks as captain Richie Campbell found the back of the net with his attempt. However, a flawless display from Montenegro, and missed shots from the Australians saw the victory escape the Sharks grasp.
SEMI FINAL: Aussies to play for bronze
A gallant Australian men’s water polo team will play for bronze tomorrow after going down 12-5 to tournament favourites Serbia in their semi final at the 13th FINA World League Super Finals in Dubai.
The Aussie Sharks will take on another European superpower, Montenegro, who lost the other semi final to Hungary, 10-8, in a result that was almost a carbon copy of last year’s world championships gold medal game.
The Serbs came into the game undefeated this week and shooting for a record fifth consecutive world league crown. They have also had the wood on Australia in recent years, scoring 10-7 and 13-7 wins over the Sharks at the 2013 FINA World Championships and more famously coming from three goals down at halftime to heartbreakingly overrun the Australians 11-8 in the quarterfinals at the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Aussie Sharks of today and that of the London Olympics are vastly different teams but the result was the same, although this time Serbia needed no miracle comeback.
The Serbs opened the scoring with an extraman goal 90 seconds into the first quarter but Australia scored next via teenager prodigy Lachlan Edwards to level it at 1-1 all. That strike seemed to click the Serbians into gear and they went on a five-goal scoring spree that spanned the last ten seconds of the first term and first four minutes of the second.
Goals to Aidan Roach and Aaron Younger momentarily stopped the rot for the Aussie Sharks in the second stanza but Serbia were again able to snare a late goal and led 7-3 at halftime.
The third term was a dour defensive affair with Serbia scoring the only two goals to take an unassailable 9-3 lead into the final quarter before claiming the last period 3-2.
Fighting to the end, Australia’s goals in that time came at the hands of Younger and Johnno Cotterill but it was too little too late for the Sharks against a white-hot Serbian outfit that were able to draw far too many exclusions from Australia.
Australia’s game against Montenegro is scheduled for 1110pm AEST on Saturday.
GAME 4: Aussies beat Brazil to semi finals berth
A dominant display has seen nine players from the Australian men’s water polo team, the Aussie Sharks, contribute goals to a 14-7 victory over Brazil, to storm into the semi finals of the FINA World League Super Final in Dubai.
The Sharks relied on their fitness, as they turned strong defence into counter attacking opportunities, out swimming Brazil to create an advantage in offence. Aussie goalkeeper James Clarke was in fine form, saving all but one of Brazil’s shooting attempts in the second half of the game.
Up front for the Sharks Jarrod Gilchrist and Aaron Younger led the way, both scoring a treble as Nathan Power scored twice. Six others including Lachlan Edwards, Mitch Emery, Tyler Martin, Aidan Roach, Johnno Cotterill and Billy Miller also found the back of the net.
The Aussies raced out to a 5-1 lead in the first quarter with solid defence shutting down Brazil’s advances in attack. The second stanza saw Brazil move back into the contest scoring five goals to Australia’s three, as they trailed 8-6 at half time.
Reasserting their dominance in the third and fourth terms, the Sharks limited Brazil to just one goal in the second half of the game, as the Aussies went on to score a further six to put the win beyond doubt.
The Sharks will now move into the semi finals where they will play the winner between Serbia and Canada at 1230am AEST on Sunday morning.
GAME 3: Aussies defeated by Canada but finish 2nd in pool
Despite going down to Canada 10-8, the Aussie Sharks have still finished second in their side of the draw at the conclusion of the group stage of the 13th men’s water polo FINA World League Super Finals in Dubai.
The Australians finished the group stage with a win and two losses – bouncing back from their opening game defeat at the hands of world champions Hungary to overcome the USA before falling to Canada.
This meant the group became a three-way tie for second as Canada had lost to USA earlier and Australia had beaten USA. It came down to the goal differential between the three teams and Australia’s four-goal win over USA gave it a plus-two margin while Canada and USA had minus one. Australia finished second and it came to a second tiebreak to separate the other two teams with USA grabbing third spot.
Australia will now face the improving Brazilian side in the sudden death quarterfinals to progress through to the semi finals and a shot at a podium finish.
The Australians were entitled to slight favouritism heading into the match against the Maple Leafs but Canada got off to the better start and led 3-2 at quarter time, Australia’s goals in the term coming courtesy of London Olympians Aidan Roach and Aaron Younger.
In the second stanza Younger was at it again and was joined on the scorecard by captain Richie Campbell as both sides netted two more goals for Canada to head into the main break up 5-4.
The third period saw Australia score first via Campbell before the teams traded goals several times, Canada eventually leading 8-7 at the end of the quarter. Australia’s other goals in the term came via Campbell again and Tyler Martin.
The Canadians skipped out to a two-goal advantage early in the fourth quarter but when Martin converted in extraman halfway through the period it looked like the Australians could snatch a draw at the very least but it was to no avail. Canada scored the final strike of the match and with it a victory by two – their first win over the Aussie Sharks in ten years.
After the game Campbell lamented Australia's poor mental application.
"Today’s game was extremely disappointing due to once again a lack of mental preparation," the skipper said.
"We again found ourselves on the back foot early in the game with our lack of aggression in defence. Our consistency needs to improve for us to develop as a unit."
But the dual Olympian promised a changed Aussie Sharks team would show up to play Brazil.
"Tomorrow we come up against Brazil and I know the team will be ready after suffering a loss to them in the preliminary finals in Shanghai," he said.
"Tomorrow will be a different team to today and I have full confidence that the boys will produce the goods."
The match against Brazil will hold special meaning for Australian head coach Elvis Fatovic who will come up against his coaching mentor, Ratko Rudic. The pair, with Rudic as head coach and Fatovic as his assistant, guided Croatia to the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games, a triumph that gave Rudic his fourth Olympic gold with three countries.
Australia’s game against Brazil is scheduled for 950pm AEST on Thursday.
GAME 2: Aussie Sharks water polo team too good for USA
An improved defensive effort has seen the Australian men’s water polo team, the Aussie Sharks; take an 8-4 win over the USA in their second game of the FINA World League Super Final in Dubai.
Smarting after a loss to Hungary in their opening game, the Sharks entered the water with a resolve to close down the USA’s goal scoring advances and produce strong counter attack opportunities to boost their own offensive game.
Aussie captain Richie Campbell led the charge, taking three goals during the game, while London Olympian Aidan Roach supported with two. Other scorers included George Ford, fellow London Olympian Johnno Cotterill and young Victorian Lachlan Edwards.
The Sharks took the early advantage in the game to have a slender 2-1 lead at the first break. However that gap evaporated in the second stanza as the USA levelled the game to 3-3 by half time.
It was the third quarter where the Sharks broke free of the USA, opening up a three goal buffer to lead 6-3 at the final exchange. The Aussies then stamped their authority on the game in the final term, locking out the USA attack to seal their first win for the tournament.
Sharks coach Elvis Fatovic said a solid defensive game was crucial to opening up attacking opportunities.
“From good defence we had a lot of opportunities for counter attack and off the back of that, we scored three goals,” Fatovic said.
“We are focused on the game against Canada tomorrow and we know it will be a tough game as we played them in Shanghai only a couple of weeks ago.”
The Sharks next game will be against Canada on Wednesday June 18 and will be played at 11:10pm AEST.
GAME 1: Hungary def Australia 11-5
The Aussie Sharks have suffered an 11-5 defeat at the hands of water polo superpower Hungary in their opening group stage match of the 13th men’s FINA World League Super Finals in Dubai.
The Australians came into the tournament with a best ever world league performance of bronze in 2007 and 2008 and hopeful of again matching it with the Hungarians after a stunning 9-all draw with the European heavyweights in the group stage of last year’s FINA World Championships in Barcelona.
Meanwhile the Hungarians, who were runners-up in the corresponding world league tournament last year before going on to win gold at the world championships a week after their draw with Australia, had other ideas, bolting out of the gates to score the game’s first three goals. They led 3-1 at the end of the first term and then 6-1 at half time.
Australia’s sole goal in the half came via driver Aidan Roach, who ironically spent last season plying his trade for Ferencvaros in the Hungarian league.
The Sharks dug deep in the third period to match the Hungarians 2-2 with Roach scoring a second and captain Richie Campbell getting his first.
In the fourth quarter Johnno Cotterill scored from a cunning lob and then Roach and fellow Olympian Billy Miller combined to help Campbell to his second but it wasn’t enough as Hungary again won the quarter 3-2 and the game by six goals.
Australia’s next game at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex is against the USA at 1230am on Wednesday (AEST), before their final group stage game against Canada 1110pm the same night.
The countries that make up the second group include Serbia, who are bidding for a record fifth straight world league crown, Brazil, China and Montenegro.
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