Clemons Seals Series Win for the Kookaburras

A penalty stroke save from Australian goalkeeper Tristan Clemons has secured the Kookaburras a 3-2 shoot-out win in the third and final test match with India, in Chhattishgarh.

The series was determined by a shoot-out after India won the final test 3-2, following a drawn first test and a 2-1 win to the Australians in the second match.

WAIS athlete Trent Mitton scored twice for the Australians as the tourists fell to a one defeat in the third contest, and with the series aggregate locked up, a shoot-out followed, in which fellow WAIS athlete Tristan Clemons stepped up as the hero.

With the Australians having converted three of their five shoot-out opportunities, Tristan Clemons stood between victory for the Kookaburras, or the match continuing to sudden death. India’s Raghunath Vokkaliga stepped up and drew a penalty stroke in his one v one with Clemons, after the Australian made contact during the contest.

Vokkaliga’s drag flick was saved by Clemons, who made an acrobatic stop to clinch the series win for the Australians.

The three test series served as preparation for the Kookaburras, ahead of their World League Final campaign, which will also be held in India. WAIS scholarship holder Aran Zalewski joined Mitton and Clemons in action across the three test series, with the squad set to be joined by WAIS athletes Fergus Kavanagh and Tyler Lovell for the up-coming tournament.

Kookaburras coach Graham Reid saw both positives and opportunities for improvements in his side’s performances in third test.

“There were some positives that came out of tonight’s match, such as our shoot-out performance which put us in a pressure situation. However, there’s still room for improvement in our defence which hurt us tonight. We shouldn’t be losing a match in the last 10 seconds through a yellow card and a ball coming straight through the middle of our defence,” he said.

Speaking about Australia’s upcoming campaign at the Hockey World League in Raipur starting Saturday, Reid added, “The rest of our squad joined us today in preparation for the World League. We have had a good look at our objectives for this tour as we look to narrow down our 2016 Olympic training squad for Rio. We have gathered a lot of information on our players over this tour, which will help us make the tough decision.

“Every game at the upcoming World League will be important for us. Having the quarter finals format in place, anything can happen as it brings into play every team at the tournament.”

The Kookaburras will now look ahead to their Hero Hockey World League campaign which gets underway in Raipur, India on 27 November. The Kookaburras face Belgium in their first pool match on Saturday 28 November, live on Fox Sports in Australia.