Hockeyroos all but Qualified for Rio
The Hockeyroos will be guaranteed qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games if they win just one of their remaining two matches at the Hockey World League in Belgium after a 2-0 win over Italy in their quarter-final.
Penalty corner goals either side of half time from Jodie Kenny and Anna Flanagan put the Hockeyroos through to Thursday’s semi-final and a guaranteed shot at the medals in Antwerp.
There they will meet the winner of the match between the Netherlands – the world number one, World Cup gold medallists and Olympic champions – and India, ranked 13th. The quarter final clash between those two takes place at 02:00am AEST, Wednesday.
Hockeyroos coach Adam Commens said, “We achieved our objective and while it’s not official that we’ve qualified for the Olympic Games I can’t see any of the top four missing out.”
The Hockeyroos’ top four finish, in all likelihood, will have already secured an Olympic berth, once the count-back system kicks in following the conclusion of the continental championships later in the year.
Commens was pleased with how his side has progressed through the tournament so far but cautioned that the opportunities missed in this encounter could prove costly on another day.
He said, “I think we have progressed nicely through the tournament, it’s just about executing in the attacking circle.
“I thought we stuck to the game plan really well, created a lot of opportunities. I do think we need to capitalise on those opportunities and finish much better. It’s something that we’ve worked very hard on in the lead up to the tournament.
“We’ve been doing it well in training and right now we’re not executing in matches and that’s an area that our players on the end [of chances] need to do. It’s as simple as that.
“If we do happen to play India, which is less likely, we know them. And the Netherlands is a team we know well. We’ll need to be more efficient in the attacking circle if we’re to get a result against them.”
Having enjoyed the best of the opening spell the Hockeyroos broke through in the 20th minute when Jodie Kenny’s penalty corner spun off the stick of a defender and over the goal line for 1-0. It was the Queensland flicker’s tenth goal of the tournament and took her to the top of the goal scoring charts.
Australia’s women were grateful to goalkeeper Rachael Lynch, who twice made telling saves at close range as Italy pressed hard to get back into the match, before Anna Flanagan provided the breathing space with a second goal.
With Kenny taking a well-earned rest, Flanagan stepped up to clinically execute a flick high into the top left corner for 2-0 and her first goal of the tournament.
The Hockeyroos enjoyed a host of excellent opportunities to extend the margin of victory late on as they broke through the Italian back time and time again but failed to convert when through on goal.
The best of the chances fell to Georgie Parker and WAIS athlete Kathryn Slattery; Parker hit the post from an acute angle and Slattery was unable to redirect the ball on target after fellow WAIS scholarship holder Ashleigh Nelson had sent the ball in Slattery’s path at close range.
The Hockeyroos’ semi-final against either the Netherlands or India will take place at midnight or 2:30am Thursday Perth time depending on other results.
-HockeyAus