Hockeyroos Suffer World Cup Defeat

Giving away soft penalty corners has cost the Hockeyroos dearly during their World Cup match against the Netherlands going down 4-1 in Argentina.

With the Netherlands scoring three of their four goals from penalty corners, the scoreboard didn’t reflect the evenness of the game.

The Hockeyroos played good hockey in patches however their goal scoring potency was once again tested.

Coming into the match having won their first two games, the Hockeyroos started the match full of confidence and took it up to their higher ranked opponents.

Knowing a win would go a long way in securing a spot in the semi finals, Australia was very aggressive early, with quick passes and constant movement placing the Dutch defence under pressure.

However the Netherlands soon demonstrated why they are the number 1 ranked team in the world, scoring a goal against the run of play to take the lead at the 10 minute mark.

Australia showed resilience to not be rattled and stuck to their game plan, continuing to attack and produce some excellent forward movement.

However they were dealt a blow when key defender Teneal Attard went down with a serious knee injury, leaving the Hockeyroos one player down.

Australia continued to push on and was eventually rewarded for their hard work with Nicole Arrold executing a well worked penalty corner to level the game at the 24 minute mark.

The Hockeyroos continued to have the momentum, however conceded another penalty corner goal one minute before half time, disappointing Australia who were perhaps the better team up until that point.

The second half started in complete contrast to the first, with the Netherlands demonstrating their skill to score another penalty corner to extend their lead.

Although there was still plenty of time remaining and the Hockeyroos continued to play well, avenues to goal appeared limited, particularly due to the tight Netherlands defence.

After Australia conceded another goal at the 46 minute mark the Netherlands had established an unbeatable lead, with the Hockeyroos continuing to fight out the match to no avail.

Hockeyroos coach Frank Murray said his team were made to pay the price for giving away soft penalty corners.

“In the end the penalty corners were the difference, it was disappointing from our point of view, but if you give away soft penalty corners to supposedly one of the best in the world, they are going to score goals and you can’t afford to do that,” said Murray.

Murray said that while the team still had some improvement left, he believes they are still capable of making the semi finals.

“I’m obviously disappointed today, I thought our first half we played reasonably well but our second half was not so good, and I don’t know if our first two games we played as good as we are capable of playing. In the end we have New Zealand and Germany (to play) and we can still make the finals but I think if we can play to our ability we can win both of our remaining games, so we will remain focused on doing that,” said Murray

The Hockeyroos now sit third in their pool but are still well in contention for a semi final berth, with a win during their next match against New Zealand on Monday 6 September a vital to their chances.

– Hockey Australia