Kookaburras Title Defence Remains on Track
A ferocious opening 25 minutes in which they scored four unanswered goals saw the Kookaburras progress to the semi-finals of the Hockey World Cup with a 100% record after beating India 4-0 to top Pool A with a maximum 15 points.
Kieran Govers’ third minute opener gave the Australian men the perfect start with Chris Ciriello doubling the advantage from a penalty corner in the 16th minute, firing his 80th goal for his country.
21 year old Jeremy Hayward made it 3-0 when he flicked home a rebound at a penalty corner, coolly slotting the ball over the shoulder of goalkeeper Sreejesh, who would go on to make a string out outstanding saves in the second half. Ciriello bagged his second and Australia’s fourth with a low penalty corner two minutes later.
The match was overshadowed by an injury to captain Mark Knowles who left the pitch on a stretcher after his head collided with the hip of S.V. Sunil with seven minutes of the first half remaining. After being taken to hospital for assessment, Knowles was discharged approximately an hour after the conclusion of the match and returned to the team hotel for rest. He is suffering from muscular pain and a headache and will be under the supervision of the team’s medical staff over the coming days.
Early second half chances for Jake Whetton and Eddie Ockenden were thwarted by Indian ‘keeper Sreejesh who was well positioned to prevent Australia extending their advantage. And Sreejesh continued his inspired form with a string of saves as the half continued, including from Jake Whetton and Chris Ciriello.
Afterwards, Ric Charlesworth said that his side had achieved their first goal for the tournament, securing qualification to the medal matches.
He said, “We came here to get to the semi-final. We’re there. We were there the other day [after beating England]. “You get to this stage in the tournament and you just have to let the players play. They have a rhythm, they know what is required and it’s the execution on the field that is the critical bit.”
The Kookaburras also saw Jamie Dwyer sit out the latter part of the match and Matthew Swann come off after going over on his ankle.
Charlesworth admitted afterwards that the injuries to Knowles, Dwyer and Swann had an impact on his side but said they are well conditioned for such scenarios.
“It affects your rotations,” he admitted. “In the end we had three on the bench that weren’t playing. That makes everybody else work harder. We can do that. We train that way. We know that the training games we’ve been playing in Perth are at a higher tempo than the games we’re playing here. The players are able to handle that. That’s not a problem but when you have to play with two or three who are not able to pull their weight then everybody else has to work harder.”
The Kookaburras now have a break until Friday’s semi-final where they will play one of the Netherlands, Argentina, Germany or New Zealand. The final order in Pool B will be determined on Tuesday.
WAIS athletes Fergus Kavanagh, Aran Zalewski and Tyler Lovell are all part of the Kookaburras’ World Cup squad.
-HockeyAustralia
