Kookaburras Seal Series Win

In front of a fantastic crowd out at Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre, Australia have taken out the last game of a four match test Series against Argentina taking them to three wins and one draw for the Series against the world number eleven.

The Kookaburras got on the board early with three quick goals within the first 20 minutes, in a bid to put Argentina out of contention and win the Series clear. The first goal to the Kookaburras was the result of a textbook penalty corner scored by Chris Ciriello in the eighth minute of the match, shortly followed by an impressive goal by striker Jason Wilson from just inside the circle. To take the score to 3-0, Kookaburra Chris Ciriello snuck in another penalty corner at the 20 minute mark.

Showing his versatility as a player, Defender Luke Doerner stepped into goalkeeping gear for the Kookaburras in a bid to gain some international practice in the position before heading over to the Commonwealth Games as the emergency goalkeeper for the Kookaburras. Doerner held his own and was successful at keeping the Argentineans scoreless whilst defending the goals for the first 20 minutes of the match.

To finish off the first half, Kookaburra Trent Mitton scored a remarkable goal off a deflection from the Argentinean goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi, giving the Kookaburras a 4-0 lead heading into half time.

The Kookaburras started off the second half in a similar fashion, with WorldHockey Player of the Year, Jamie Dwyer, scoring a 5^th goal early in the half to cement their lead and dominance over the Argentineans.

The remainder of the second half saw the Kookaburras become lax with their 4-0 lead and allowed for the Argentineans to score two easy goals in the last ten minutes. The first was to Agustin Mazzilli in the 64^th minute and the second to Captain Matias Vila with just 3 minutes to go. With these two goals the Argentineans were able to close the gap on the scoreboard and head home with a more respectable end score.

Although Argentina will not be at the Commonwealth Games, the test matches have been an excellent warm-up series for the Kookaburras as they prepare to take home their fourth consecutive gold medal at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

– Hockey Australia