Hockeyroos Two from Two at World Cup

The Hockeyroos secured maximum points from their second match at the Hockey World Cup in The Hague as they overcame a slow start to defeat Japan 3-2.

Despite needing to rally, National Coach Adam Commens declared it a “satisfying” and “really solid” performance for the team still without injured skipper Madonna Blyth.

The Hockeyroos fell behind against the run of play to a breakaway goal from Yuri Nagai midway through the first period before 2012 World Young Player of the Year, Anna Flanagan, pulled them back into contention with a low penalty corner goal on the stroke of half time.

Emily Smith’s diving diversion of Jane Claxton’s cross put the Aussie women ahead shortly after half time. And, as on Saturday against Korea, a successful video referral won the Hockeyroos a penalty corner, which Flanagan dispatched high into the top corner for 3-1.

However, Australia’s opponents found a way back into the match with just over ten minutes remaining. From a penalty corner, a goal-bound shot was illegally blocked on the line and Shiho Sakai stepped up to slot the ball home into the bottom corner for 3-2.

Despite a late barrage of penalty corners the Hockeyroos couldn’t extend their advantage but good pressure high up the field kept the Japanese at bay until the final hooter. The match marked a 150th appearance for Australia for Ashleigh Nelson and a 50th outing in the green and gold for Kirstin Dwyer.

National Coach Adam Commens said afterwards, “I think it was a satisfying performance from us to go one nil down and then to come back and persevere with the game plan that we had. We were executing it well and creating a lot of chances. Statistically, you can see that we created a lot of goal scoring opportunities and we didn’t concede many.

“We did well and we were unlucky probably not to get a fourth [goal] so I was really pleased with the way that we stuck to our game plan. We got in a position to win the match. It’s a little disappointing that they were able to score to make it 3-2 – it causes a bit of stress for the coach – but ultimately I thought it was a really solid performance and one that was an improvement on the first match.”

Answering questions on the fitness of captain Madonna Blyth, Commens added, “She has a calf injury to her lower leg, it’s a small strain. She will run today and do some training in the coming days and hopefully be ready for the match against Belgium in three days’ time. We envisage that she will be alright.

“I’ll repeat what I said the other day. Missing a player of that standard leaves a big hole in our team. We are very satisfied with the other players in our midfield but we normally play with five midfielders and we’re playing with only four at the moment. We want to keep the structure of our team the same around the group, rather than shuffling and playing less defenders or less forwards. And I think we’ve done a great job to get the points missing a player of the ability of Madonna. It will be great to have her back.”

WAIS athletes Ashleigh Nelson and Jayde Taylor are both on World Cup duty with Australia.

The Hockeyroos have a two day break before their third pool fixture, against Belgium, on Thursday. That match gets underway at 10:30am local time (4:30pm Perth time).

Earlier:

The Hockeyroos got their World Cup campaign off to the best possible start in testing circumstances as they came from behind to beat Korea 3-2 in The Hague on Saturday.

Missing captain Madonna Blyth to a calf strain sustained in training on Friday, they found themselves behind to a seventh minute goal but rebounded to score three times before holding out for a nervy final five minutes after a late Korean strike.

Just as things might have looked more comfortable for the girls in gold, Korea pulled one back with just over five minutes remaining, setting up a nervy final period. With the ball breaking loose in the centre of the circle, Seul Ki Cheon fired into the top corner, lifting the ball over the diving glove of goalkeeper Rachael Lynch.

Despite the setback the Hockeyroos regrouped, defending resolutely and maintaining possession to thwart the late Korean push for an equaliser.

National coach Adam Commens said afterwards, “We knew before we started the game and the tournament that the match against Korea would be a very difficult one. They’re a team that normally begins tournaments well and we thought it would be tricky. We saw that in the first half; they began strong. I thought that we built into the game and throughout the second half we played some good hockey. During that period we controlled the match well and I was pleased with the efforts of our players to take their opportunities well. The last five or six minutes were a little disappointing, to let them back into the game, but ultimately we got the three points and that’s what we were after.”

The Hockeyroos, led by Casey Eastham, played with 17 players as Blyth supported her teammates from the dugout.

Speaking about double Olympian and World Cup silver medallist Blyth, Commens said, “It happened yesterday at training – [in] our last training session. She felt it and as we know with those types of injuries you don’t feel them coming on, it’s just slightly sore. We made the decision to rest her. Our focus is the end of the tournament. I think it says something about our team and the confidence we have in it that we can play against a quality nation like Korea and take the option to rest our captain. She could have played but we didn’t want the injury to worsen for later in the tournament.

“We’d like her to play [against Japan on Monday]. Obviously it’s not ideal to have her sitting off for too long but as you know with these type of injuries it’s five to seven days normally. Belgium is in five days but we’ll monitor each day, do a small fitness test but right now she’s resting; she didn’t warm up or do anything.”

-HockeyAustralia