Kookaburras Share Points With Dutch
The Kookaburras have continued their unbeaten start to their gold medal defence, drawing 2-2 with 1996 and 2000 Olympic champions The Netherlands.
The result sees Australia remain atop the Group B standings, ahead of their arch-rivals by goal difference with one pool match against Great Britain to come. Both the top two teams in each pool qualify for the semi-finals.
West Australian Bevan George again led the Australians out for the match of the group stage, while Fergus Kavanagh and Kiel Brown came off the bench partway through the first half.
The Australian’s started the match at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium brightly and created a number of scoring shots early but were unable to convert.
The Netherlands’ best chance came 10 minutes before half time with a penalty corner but Brown charged down their potent battery to ensure the score remained nil all at half time.
It was a penalty corner to the Dutch in the 55th minute which broke the deadlock though, Taeke Takema sending one of his world renowned flicks into the back of the net.
Conceding the goal didn’t dampen Australia’s spirit however and they struck back quickly with a sensational solo field goal from Eddie Ockenden tying the score in the 58th minute.
It wasn’t long before the Kookaburras took the lead for the first time, with penalty corner specialist Luke Doerner securing the lead with a well taken shot in the 61st minute.
Doerner’s goal looked to have secured a green and gold victory as the clock wound down but Australia’s defence conceded another penalty corner with just a minute remaining. On the corner Takema sent a flick flying past George on the left post to even the score at 2-2 and see the two teams share the points.
Kookaburra’s coach Barry Dancer was happy to secure the valuable point and post match shifted his focus to the next round of the competition.
“We are disappointed that we didn’t seal the result but that will pass through quickly and will focus on the semi-finals,” Dancer told Olympics.com.au after the match.
“To make sure we got that point was the most important thing but also to play well against Holland was the second most important thing and we did that in the second half.”
Australia’s final group stage match is against Great Britain on Tuesday.