Kookaburras and Hockeyroos claim wins over GB in FIH Pro League

The Kookaburras and Hockeyroos have claimed wins over Great Britain in their FIH Pro League encounter at the Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre.

Warm conditions saw temperatures reach 45 degrees Celsius in their opening game, with the Kookaburras off to a strong start. A fightback by GB in the second saw the lead switch during the third and fourth as GB held a 4-3 lead in to the closing minutes.

Goalkeeper Tyler Lovell was replaced by a field player in the dying minutes in a last ditch effort, the Kookaburras’ persistence was rewarded when WA’s Trent Mitton scored in the 59th minute to make it 4-4 and send the game to a shootout. With the Kookaburras’ winning three goals to one.

Game two saw the Kookaburras’ produce a stronger performance with Mitton put the GB keeper under pressure twice before a flurry of attacks from Australia paid off to go one up. Great Britain soon equalised, though it was all the Kookaburra’s from that point.

Captain Aran Zalewski showed his class in the midfield setting up a goal by Wotherspoon with the goals flowing to see the Kookaburra’s 4-1 up with five minutes to play. Great Britain’s decision to swap out their keeper put the result beyond doubt with Mitton sealing the game with a final goal in the closing minutes.

“Playing back to back games is always interesting and I thought we approached the game pretty well and obviously got a good result from it,” said Kookaburras Head Coach Colin Batch.

“We fell in a hole in the third quarter yesterday so there was some emphasis on our defensive intensity today which was much better, and Great Britain have got some great attacking players so we needed to be on top of that.

“We managed to create opportunities throughout and when you are doing that you feel like you are in control of the game, but things can turn around really quickly.”

The Hockeyroos defeated reigning Olympic Champions Great Britain in a hotly contested opening game. Great Britain took the opening after both sides missed chances with penalty corners with the Hockeyroos’ equalising soon after. With scores tied the game seemed set to end in a draw before a last minute goal gave the Hockeyroos’ the victory.

In game two Great Britain again found themselves on the score board early before heavy rain and a thunderstorm stopped play in the second quarter. Play resumed with the second quarter completed before the bad weather returned, forcing the game to be cancelled.

FIH regulations stipulate that if one of the two matches played between two teams is cancelled prior to the commencement of the fourth quarter, the winner of the other match will receive double points. As the winners of the opening game on Saturday the Hockeyroos earned the maximum six points from the two games.

The Hockeyroos and Kookaburras now return to Perth for their next FIH Pro League matches against Argentina on March 6-7.