Hockeyroos Defeat China 4-0 at Hawke’s Bay Tournament
Battling New Zealand’s wet weather conditions didn’t faze the Hockeyroos, who walked away with a 4-0 victory over China in their third match of the Hawke’s Bay Tournament.
A first international strike by youngster Mathilda Carmichael was sandwiched by goals from Georgia Nanscawen and Kellie White, whose late double gave the Hockeyroos a deserved margin of victory.
The Hockeyroos displayed good passages of play as they applied constant pressure on their opponents. Holding their structure well, they dominated the first half of the match in their attacking circle which saw Chinese goalkeeper Li Dangxiao under the spot light.
Georgia Nanscawen broke the ice scoring the first goal for the Hockeyroos in the 15th minute. Ashleigh Nelson set up what was to be Carmichael’s first international goal as her shot rebounded off Chinese goalkeeper Li Dangziao. Mathilda Carmichael quickly snatched up the rebounding ball sending it into the back of the net to give the Hockeyroos breathing space with a 2-0 lead.
China fought to stay in the game kicking into gear in the last 15 minutes of the second half however, it wasn’t enough to stop Hockeyroo Kellie White, who doubled up on goals late in the match. Sending the ball into the back of the net in the 59th and 65th minutes, White brought the Hockeyroos to a comfortable 4-0 victory.
Speaking after the match Hockeyroos head coach Adam Commens said, “Tonight’s was a much better performance by us. We physically stepped it up, giving China limited time to make decisions and react through our constant pressure. We intercepted well and created ourselves lots of opportunities.”
Discussing Carmichael’s performance in tonight’s match Commens said, “It was a great effort by Mathilda. We use her as a spare forward and it’s not her natural playing position. She’s doing really well and it gives our forwards a bit of a break. I think it’s fair to say both myself and the team are very pleased with her performance tonight.”
In preparation for the Hockeyroos’ fourth match against Korea on Thursday evening, Commens added, “We will prepare for Thursdays night’s game in a similar way to tonight’s. We will go away and debrief from tonight’s match and look at fine tuning a few areas in the lead up to Korea’s game on Thursday.”
WAIS athletes Ashleigh Nelson and Jayde Taylor both played for the Hockeyroos in the match.
The Hockeyroos will now meet Korea in their fourth match of the series Thursday evening at 1:00pm AWST.
-HockeyAustralia
