Hockeyroos Finish Tour with Win
The Hockeyroos have finished their tour of Argentina on a positive note, defeating world number three Germany 2-1 to finish third at the Four Nations tournament in Rosario, Argentina.
The match is the Hockeyroos’ last of a two week tour of Argentina in which they blooded eight new players and played under new coach Adam Commens for the first time.
The Hockeyroos have shown signs of improvement and a quicker and more attacking style under Commens during this tournament. The young Hockeyroos, who were significantly less experienced than their opponents on this tour, will take away a lot of confidence that they can match it with the world’s best, particularly given that they drew with world champions Argentina twice and defeated them once during the last two weeks.
In their final hit-out, Australia almost got away to the perfect start, bringing the ball deep into the circle and trying to find Jade Close in the first play of the game, but Germany managed to save the shot and preserve their clean sheet.
As the first half continued Germany began to gain a slight edge, having several penalty corners but failing to convert any.
Australia too had their opportunities, but it was Germany who struck first, scoring at the 23 minute mark to take a one goal advantage which they carried with them into the half time break.
The Hockeyroos continued to look dangerous in their circle, but Germany were also desperately looking to further the gap on the scoreboard. If it was not for the efforts of goalkeeper Toni Cronk, Australia could have found themselves out of the game.
Half way through the second half the Hockeyroos adopted a more attacking style, creating several dangerous attacks in search of an equaliser which was found thanks to Jodie Schulz from a penalty corner to make it 1-1 at the 52 minute mark.
This attacking style continued throughout the half and saw Australia take the lead thanks to a goal by AIS-WAIS striker Ashleigh Nelson with only eight minutes remaining.
Germany threw everything at the Hockeyroos in the dying minutes, even generating several penalty corners. However the Hockeyroos defence proved too strong and gave the Hockeyroos a confidence building win.
Commens said he was pleased the Hockeyroos stuck to their game plan when they found themselves behind on the scoreboard.
“We had a good performance today. We came back from a goal down which was pleasing because we were able to stick to our game plan. We struggled early in the second half but I think we finished off much stronger and to be honest were unlucky not to have scored even a few more goals,” said Commens.
While pleased with the team’s performance in Argentina, Commens said the group would continue to focus on long term development.
“Overall I have been really pleased with the way we have played. For such a young group we have played well against some world class opponents. However I think we all recognise that we still have a long way to go until we can match it with the top teams at the major tournaments. Both Argentina and Germany were missing some key players during these matches and we know they will have a stronger line up when we play them at the Champions Trophy later in the year,” Commens said.
– Hockey Australia
