Mitton and Lovell Help Australia Continue Unbeaten Streak
A Trent Mitton strike and a top quality performance in goals from keeper Tyler Lovell has spurred Australia on to a tight 3-2 win over India at the 2018 Champions Trophy in the Netherlands.
The result takes Australia top of the ladder after three matches and leaves the Kookaburras as the only undefeated side.
But they were made to work for it against a spirited Indian outfit that fought back resiliently in the fourth quarter when it appeared that Trent Mitton’s third goal for the tournament, late in the third term, had given the Australians the upper-hand via a two-goal buffer.
A 58th minute penalty corner goal to Harmanpreet Singh set up a tense finale, but Australia managed to withstand the late pressure and secured its second win for the tournament heading into their next match against the Dutch.
The Kookaburras were forced to defend a series of penalty corners over the course of the match and head coach Colin Batch praised Australia’s defensive battery.
“Tyler Lovell has played all three games for us and he’s been playing consistently well,” Batch said. “We’ve been pretty good with our corner defence throughout the tournament, it’s something the boys really pride themselves on.”
Despite being undefeated in the tournament thus far, Australia has been challenged in each match to date and Batch said costly errors would need to be eradicated if they were to continue that sequence against the Netherlands.
“It’s a basic thing but if we’ve got possession of the ball and maintain it and not give it back in turnover situations, that’ll be a key part of the game,” he said.
A win against the Netherlands will guarantee Australia a spot in the finals ahead of their final round-robin match with Argentina.
The Australian squad features four WA athletes with Mitton and Lovell joined by Kookaburras’ co-captain Aran Zalewski and Jake Harvie.