Kavanagh and Begbie in Action for Kookaburras
WAIS hockey athletes have been in action this week representing the Kookaburras and Australia A sides in the four team warm-up series ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Fergus Kavanagh and Graeme Begbie were both involved in the Kookaburras wins over Malaysia and Canada, whilst Ross Meadows, Brett Dancer, Jonathon Charlesworth and Kiel Brown all represented the Australian A team which also enjoyed wins over Malaysia and Canada.
The Kookaburras made amends for their shock 1-0 loss to Malaysia ahead of this series, defeating the South-East Asian side 11-3 in Canberra.
The best possible start was made by the Kookaburras, with prolific striker Des Abbott opening the goal scoring account only 30 seconds into the match.
This was an ominous sign for Malaysia, with the Kookaburras showing no mercy and upcoming star Chris Ciriello extending the Kookaburras lead from a penalty corner only minutes later.
When two time world player of the year Jamie Dwyer scored immediately after, the game appeared almost over with over 70 minutes of play still remaining, the Kookaburras simply outclassing the visitors.
This was reinforced throughout the first half, with Mark Knowles, Simon Orchard and Rob Hammond scoring goals while Dwyer added his second just prior to half time, with Russell Ford also scoring two first half goals to set up a 9-1 half time lead.
In complete contrast to the fast paced first half, the goal-fest didn’t quite continue after half time, with the first goal not coming until the 52 minute mark, going to Malaysia.
Despite having the game already won the Kookaburras continued to work hard, with striker Grant Schubert scoring at the 59 minute mark while Orchard scored his second goal at the 66 minute mark.
Australia A opened their campaign with a win over Canada before enjoying a 2-0 victory over Malaysia in which WAIS scholarship holder Brett Dancer opened the scoring in the 27th minute via a penalty corner.
The Kookaburras held off a determined Canadian team to record a 4-0 victory in their second match in Canberra.
In what was a tightly fought contest, Canada took it up to the Kookaburras, denying Australia’s strikers any space to move in the early stages of the match.
Despite having two penalty corners in the first ten minutes, the Kookaburras didn’t record their first goal until the 29th minute thanks to some clever work from Des Abbott.
A late first half goal to midfielder Rob Hammond gave the Kookaburras more breathing space heading into the second half.
The match retained its intensity in the second half until Kookaburras veteran Grant Schubert converted a penalty stroke in the 48th minute, which effectively killed the match as a contest.
With Eli Matheson converting a penalty corner after 53 minutes the result was put beyond doubt, with the Kookaburras preventing a Canadian penalty corner with only two minutes remaining to ensure the opposition remained goalless.
The Kookaburras will face Australia A in what should prove their toughest match of the campaign on Saturday in Canberra.
The men’s 2009 Champions Trophy gets under way on November 28 in Melbourne.
– with Hockey Australia
