Hockeyroos Earn Shot at World Cup Glory

The Hockeyroos qualified for the semi-finals of the hockey World Cup for the first time since 2006 with a tight 0-0 draw against rivals New Zealand.

With the Netherlands beating Korea 2-0, the Hockeyroos finished second in Pool A, two points behind the Dutch and three ahead of Korea.

Australia might have won the match but for a disallowed goal early in the second half, which was awarded at first but overturned on appeal to the video umpire by the Black Sticks. Emily Hurtz thought she had given her side the lead with a deft deflection over the goalkeeper in the 38th minute only for the goal to be ruled out after replays showed Anna Flanagan had not attempted to stop the ball after being awarded a free hit in the build-up.

After the match, Hockeyroos Head Coach Adam Commens said he was pleased with the result.

He said, “It was a really hard fought match as it always is against New Zealand. I thought that they were particularly good in the first half and we were not at our best. It was warm today and we had a really high intensity match against the Netherlands [on Saturday night] and a short turnaround for this match and I think that we struggled a little physically to reach the level that we had the other night.

“On top of that we had a number of players that were not 100% physically fit in terms of illness and injury, which inhibited us to play with the energy that we had shown before. I thought it was a really gritty performance; in the second half we created chances to win the match as New Zealand did in the first half.”

Speaking after the Netherlands’ win over Korea secured the Hockeyroos’ semi-final place, Commens added,”It’s fantastic for the girls. We’ve put a lot of work in over the last 18 months since the Olympic Games and I think we’ve played a great brand of hockey here. We’ve been solid through the round matches, we played a fantastic match against the world number one team and now we’re right in this tournament.

“We’re not afraid of any opponent we come up against in the semi-final. We believe we can make it through to the final.

“Our group was physically and emotionally drained after the game against the Netherlands and I think we saw that against New Zealand. And to be honest, I think we saw that from the Dutch team in their match against Korea.

“We need to re-charge the batteries. We’ll have a pretty light day tomorrow, then we’ll work hard on scouting our opponent the day after with a small training run on the day of the match and then we’ll get into it.

“USA have been doing fantastic. They’re a team that plays with high pressure and we know Argentina well. I believe they will be the two teams that we may come up against and I think both sides are dangerous and equally we can get a result against both teams.”

Before the match, Kate Jenner received acknowledgement of her 100th appearance for Australia.

She said, “It’s a big stage at the World Cup to play your 100th game. I would have been happier with the win but it’s always a tough game against New Zealand and we knew that they were going to bring it. We had to lift our game and hold them out in the end.”

The game began at pace with Australian goalkeeper Rachael Lynch forced into a good one-on-one save from Olivia Merry in the eighth minute, followed soon after by a New Zealand penalty corner that was well defended but in the awarding of it, the Hockeyroos lost their video referral.

The Hockeyroos’ first opportunity saw Kellie White’s tomahawk fly over the bar before, moments later, Australia’s first penalty corner move broke down. A second chance from a corner followed soon after but passed without a goal. New Zealand might have gone in to the break a goal up but for Krystal Forgesson’s shot at the near post going wide.

Hurtz’s disallowed goal was the closest the second half came to producing a winner with both defences coming out on top and neither goalkeeper particularly busy after the break.

When asked afterwards about his desire to go for the win, Commens added, “We were generating enough chances to get the win. I didn’t see any need for us to play any more attacking or really go for the jugular for the win.

“It does show that international matches are all difficult and we’ve seen that throughout this World Cup. It’s great that they are like that but anyone talking about easy matches…there just are no easy matches. We saw that in our first three matches and again today. It’s just really tight. I think women’s hockey’s in a good place and the level is just getting better from all the teams and there’s going to be some interesting times in the coming years.”

WAIS athlete Ashleigh Nelson will have an x-ray after being hit in the toe early in the match. Fellow WAIS scholarship holder Jayde Taylor also played in the match for Australia.

-HockeyAustralia