Liddelow and Nelson on Scoresheet in Hockeyroos Warm-up

Published On: 23 August 2010

Ashleigh Nelson (right) was in goal scoring touch

The Hockeyroos, featuring five WAIS athletes, will enter the Women’s World Cup full of confidence after pushing tournament favourites Argentina to a 3-2 loss overnight in Argentina whilst in other hockey news the Thundersticks have had mixed results at AHL finals week.

With the Hockeyroos travelling to Argentina a week early to prepare for the World Cup, which will be held in Rosario from August 29 – September 12, this match allowed them an opportunity to perfect their game plan ahead of the all important tournament.

Despite the loss, the Hockeyroos will be pleased with their efforts which saw them take the lead twice throughout the match and produce an even performance.

The fact that Australia’s two goals came from WAIS athletes Shelly Liddelow and Ashleigh Nelson was also a positive, given that the Hockeyroos will be relying on these two strikers to perform near goals at the World Cup.

Nicole Arrold (ACT), Madonna Blyth (QLD) and Kim Walker (WAIS) were amongst the best players for the Hockeyroos.

The Hockeyroos will play a practice match against South Africa on Friday 27th August before their first game at the World Cup on Monday 30th August against Japan.

In Brisbane the Smokefree WA Thundersticks have split their opening two matches in AHL Finals Week, going down surprisingly to the ACT 2-1 before bouncing back to defeat NSW 4-1.

The team, coached by WAIS Head Coach David Bell, started their campaign in lacklustre fashion on Saturday with WAIS athlete Trent Mitton scoring their sole goal in the loss to the ACT.

Fellow WAIS athletes Travis Taylor (two) and Ian Burcher (one) put the ball in the back of the net on Sunday as the team returned to form with a comprehensive win over NSW.

Following the match Bell said he was very pleased with his team’s performance.

“I thought we handled the ball a lot better than we did in our game yesterday against Canberra,” Bell said.

“I thought we played some good team hockey today, and it is encouraging for us to have converted a number of penalty corners because this is rare for our group,” he said.

Monday is a rest day before the action re-commences on Tuesday.

– Hockey Australia and WAIS