Kookaburras Open 2017 with a Convincing Win

Yesterday at Marrara Hockey Stadium in Darwin the Kookaburras opened their 2017 season with a convincing victory, defeating Pakistan 6-1.

A number of Western Australian athletes, in Tyler Lovell, Trent Mitton and Tristan Clemons, made their contribution to the superb win.

In front of a crowd including over 600 school children the Kookaburras kicked off to a good start, Trent Mitton scoring the first goal of the match.

With only minutes to go in the first quarter the Australian side were able to find the net again with Darwin local Jeremy Hayward converting a penalty corner opportunity.

The second quarter saw a halt to the Kookaburras momentum as the Pakistan side’s defensive pressure prevented the Australians from adding to the scoreboard.

At the same time the Kookaburras put up strong defensive efforts stopping all scoring attempts from the visiting side.

Heading into the half time break the score reflected that of the first break, remaining at Australia 2, Pakistan 0.

As the Kookaburras came out fighting in the third Tome Wickham was able to slot another goal for his side, scoring from the left of the net. 

The final quarter proved to be the action quarter with Matt Dawson scoring a field goal in the 48th minute, quickly followed by a string of two goals by Ben Craig both within minutes of each other.

Pakistan’s captain, Abdul Haseem Khan managed to get his team on the board right as the final whistle was blown, scoring their only goal for the game.

Kookaburras Head Coach, Colin Batch said “the score line was 6-1, but I think we have to put that into context. Pakistan made it very difficult for us for a number of quarters, the second was tough and the third we didn’t create too much but we ended up getting the third goal and that opened up the game for us.”

“Overall, we were pretty consistent, so I was pleased to see that particularly in these conditions. There’s plenty to work on before tomorrow night; we had a bit of trouble coming out from the Pakistan high press so we have to look at that. We spoke about it in the game and it was better in the second half, but I would like a clearer picture of what we need to do tomorrow.”

The Kookaburras are next scheduled to take on Pakistan tonight at 7pm (ACST), at the Marrara Hockey Stadium.