Kookaburras Held to Scoreless Draw with the Netherlands

The Kookaburras have played out a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands in the second pool match at the 2012 Champions Trophy in Melbourne.

In a tense tussle it was the goal keepers who dominated denying the forwards from both teams with Dutch keeper Jaap Stockmann the star of show.

In a tense opening period opportunities were limited with both teams holding firm in what many regard as a preview to the gold medal match.

It was the Dutch on 15 minutes who had the first real opportunity through a Rogier Hoffman reverse shot that went wide due to Kookaburras Kieran Govers tracking back to pressure the shot.

The London silver medalists started to push high on the Australian defense but it was their goal keeper Stockmann who came to the rescue for the visitors after slapping away a bullet like shot from Victorian Chris Ciriello penalty corner.

It was the first of many stellar saves from the Dutch goal tender.

“Of course I can remember some (better saves) but it was a good save and today was a good day for me. I saved some goals and it’s always great if you perform well but I am not really happy that we didn’t win,” Stockmann said.

“The concentration for a goalie is the most important thing especially with these kinds of matches. You get so many shots on goal and if you are one minute not concentrated then the ball will go in.”

The Kookaburras gained the ascendancy going into the closing period of the first half with three penalty corners. Victorian Russell Ford had a chance to snatch the lead with one minute remaining after some fine dribbling but scuffed the shot to the left.

The Kookaburras maintained their hold on the game in the second half forcing two early penalty corners only to have Stockmann pull off another wonder save to keep the score at 0-0 at the 40 minute mark.

A third penalty corner to Australia resulted in striker Trent Mitton (AIS-WAIS) having to receive treatment after copping a raised ball to the face, in a similar incident to Ciriello’s broken nose the day before.

The Kookaburras continued to control the game but struggled to find a way through a determined Netherlands defense that were lucky to still be in the contest.

The hard work of the Australians looked to have been undone with 19 minutes remaining as the Netherlands pushed forward to force a penalty corner.

This time Kookaburras keeper George Bazeley got in on the action and matched Stockmann in the keeper stakes to make a terrific save and ensure his side stayed the game.

Both teams pushed hard for a winner late on and it was Kookaburras forward Jacob Whetton who had a golden chance on the counter attack with seconds to spare only to put a lunging shot at goal wide to leave the game 0-0.

“It’s just about skill execution. It’s the same thing every game we just have to make sure we execute our chances. Unfortunately we didn’t do that today,” Bazeley said.

“We think our game is capable of beating anyone in the world, we are not looking that far ahead just yet.”

“Until we start putting in a few more chances, we are creating them, if that wasn’t there then maybe we would be worried but the opportunity is there to score goals.”

Australian coach Graham Reid was satisfied with the outcome.

“I was much happier today with the team, I think we played a lot better. We had some more opportunities which was good. We dusted the cobwebs off yesterday and it was a better performance. I think both teams lifted to the respective opposition,” Reid said.

WAIS had three scholarship holders in action, with Mitton joined by Fergus Kavanagh and Kiel Brown in the Australian line-up.

In other results Belgium slumped to their second loss in as many days, this time against Pakistan who after a tight first half scored on 56 minutes from a Haseem Abdul Khan’s field goal and then Shafqat Rasool with a minute remaining that put the result beyond doubt to make it 2-0.

A Barry Middleton inspired England produced the first major upset of the tournament defeating Olympic champions Germany 4-2 in a physical encounter that included a red card to German Niklas Grell.

With a rest day tomorrow the action starts again on Tuesday with New Zealand taking on England, Belgium battling with the Netherlands, Germany up against India and host nation Australia playing Pakistan.

In the final game on day two it was India who out classed New Zealand to win 4-2.

– Hockey Australia