Kookaburras Make Strong Start at Sultan Azlan Shah
Two goals from Queenslander Jake Whetton and a first international strike by Northern Territory youngster Jeremy Hayward paved the way for the Kookaburras’ 6-0 victory over Canada at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh on Sunday evening.
Australian national coach Ric Charlesworth said afterwards, “It was another solid performance. We made a lot of chances tonight. While we didn’t finish as many as we might have liked their goalkeepers played well and we hit the post and crossbar four or five times.”
WAIS athlete Trent Mitton made his 50th appearance for Australia in the match and it was he who set up Glenn Simpson to give the Kookaburras an early lead with a swept shot that deflected into the roof of the net. The goal was the Victorian’s 20th strike for his country in his 101stappearance.
Australia came agonisingly close on several occasions following Simpson’s opener but it took a powerful penalty corner flick high into the far top corner from Hayward to double the Kookaburras’ lead. Having only made his debut on Thursday evening the 21 year old came close to doubling his personal tally moments later but could only watch as his stretched shot cannoned back off the post and away.
The Kookaburras, however, did make it 3-0 before the break as Nick Budgeon, the team’s hat-trick hero from the opening match, strolled into the circle before picking his spot and calmly slotting home.
At times in the second half the Canadian goal lived something of a charmed life with Liam De Young and Jamie Dwyer hitting the post either side of a Dwyer effort that flew off the crossbar.
But Australian pressure finally paid off when Russell Ford made it 4-0 in the 46thminute. Ford was on hand to fire home after Trent Mitton had seen his shot saved and De Young’s effort had rebounded off the frame of the goal and into the path of the Victorian forward.
Jake Whetton soon had the crowd on its feet with an outstanding goal to rival the pinpoint ferocity of Hayward’s earlier effort. Standing less than one metre off the base line Whetton unleashed a tomahawk that flew inside the far post to put the Kookaburras 5-0 up. The strike was his 20th for Australia and he followed up with his 21st goal ten minutes later, reacting quickest to a rebound from the Canadian goalkeeper after good work by Glenn Simpson.
One note of concern for the Kookaburras came after Matt Gohdes was hit on the foot. The Rockhampton-born midfielder was kept on the sidelines in the second half and will now be assessed by team medical staff.
Having experienced the rarity of a full two days’ break between tournament matches, Charlesworth added, “We trained hard [during the off days]. We’ve got to work on our fitness so we’re working hard on pushing ourselves throughout the tournament.”
The result maintains the Kookaburras’ 100% record and keeps them top of the standings after two matches. Australia’s men play South Africa on Monday at 4pm AWST. The match is live on Eurosport Australia.
Earlier:
A hat-trick of penalty corner goals from Tasmanian Nick Budgeon helped the Kookaburras to a resounding 7-0 win over China in the opening match of the prestigious Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia on Thursday evening.
Before the match all eyes were on another Tasmanian, Eddie Ockenden, who was celebrating his 200th appearance for Australia but it was Ockenden’s best mate Budgeon whose goals were critical to the margin of victory.
At the other end of the experience spectrum, young Northern Territory star Jeremy Hayward made an impressive senior international debut while Victorian Glenn Simpson was also recognised on the occasion of his 100th Kookaburras appearance.
While Head Coach Ric Charlesworth was satisfied with the outcome, he promised there’s more to come from his side. “We were a bit rusty but we haven’t played together for a while and it showed,” he admitted. “Overall we were ok but we weren’t as fluent as we’d like to be; we can be better than that.”
Charlesworth paid tribute to 21 year old Hayward whose performance he called “solid”, while adding, “Eddie [Ockenden] and Simmo [Glenn Simpson} played well in the midfield. Having a debut, a 200th appearance and a 100th appearance in the same game is pretty unusual.”
Budgeon’s early goal through the legs of the Chinese goalkeeper put the Aussie men in the driving seat inside the opening three minutes of the match. A number of chances were passed up before Western Australian Institute of Sport athlete Trent Mitton doubled the advantage with a close range low flick for 2-0 and Jamie Dwyer made it 3-0 shortly before half time, swivelling opportunistically to strike home his 201st international goal a day after his 35th birthday.
Queenslander Jake Whetton did well to stretch behind him to get away the shot that made it 4-0 while Russell Ford demonstrated his class to calmly turn his man before flicking home his 70th international goal. Ford’s record of a goal every two games is bettered only by Dwyer and fellow Victorian Chris Ciriello, who sat out the match as he recovers from injury.
Ciriello’s absence allowed Budgeon free reign from penalty corners and the Tasmanian grasped the opportunity with both hands, firing home Australia’s sixth goal midway through the second half before completing his hat-trick in the final stages.
With the tournament representing a significant stage of Australia’s preparation for its World Cup defence in The Hague in June, Charlesworth added he was taking the opportunity to check on possible opponents as well as his own squad. “There are four teams from the World Cup here so it’s importance we take the chance to see them too,” he said.
WAIS athlete Tyler Lovell also featured in the match off the bench.
-HockeyAustralia