Quarter Final Berth for Burras at Junior World Cup
The Burras, the Australian men’s U21 hockey team, marched on to the quarter-finals of the Junior World Cup in Delhi with a 2-0 win over Pool B rivals France.
The result maintained the Burras’ 100% record at the tournament and sets up a last eight clash on Thursday against Germany.
A terrific solo effort by Western Australian Institute of Sport athlete Frank Main and an arrow-straight penalty corner flick by South Australian Cameron Joyce sealed all three points and Pool B pole position for the Burras for whom Main was subsequently named Man of the Match.
National Junior Coach Paul Gaudoin said afterwards, “I’m pleased with the win. The French are a very good side; they were fourth in the under 21 Europeans and the only teams above them were Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. We improved a little from yesterday and I’m glad we kept a clean sheet, although we will still need to play better to get through the next round.”
With the quarter-finals on the horizon, Gaudoin highlighted the importance of carrying good form and momentum through the tournament. “We want to win as many games as we can, we don’t want to flirt with form,” he said. “We won today, we stuck to our process and everyone has had time on the pitch. But a 100% record is irrelevant if we don’t win our quarter-final. The sudden death nature of the tournament from here means that Thursday’s quarter-final is a grand final for us.”
Going into the match both sides were assured of quarter-final progress but with momentum and differing paths in the latter stages on the line there was no quarter given in a high energy opening period.
Despite the Burras’ domination of the possession statistics and a brace of early corners, the Australian goal led a charmed life in a first half that saw counter-attacking France pass up no fewer than three clear opportunities to take the lead. The Australian defence was not the only one breathing a sigh of relief, however; Frank Main had the travelling supporters on their feet as he robbed his opponent on the 23 metre line but after bursting into the circle he fired narrowly wide.
Late in the first half Daniel Beale found himself thwarted at close range by the French goalkeeper Edgar Reynaud after good work along the baseline and Casey Hammond came close with a shot on the angle but the sides remained deadlocked.
Just two minutes into the second half Frank Main atoned for his earlier miss when he put the Burras 1-0 up with an excellent individual goal. Cutting in from the left, Perth-born Main danced past three defenders before lashing his shot through the legs of the goalkeeper.
And Australia’s advantage might have been doubled a minute later but for a slight bobble that took the ball over the out-stretched stick of Will Gilmour after good interplay between Main and Dylan Wotherspoon inside the French circle.
South Australian set piece taker Cameron Joyce made it 2-0 midway through the second half with a penalty corner flick that flew straight down the middle of the goal and through Reynaud’s legs.
Both sides took the opportunity to give pitch time to their reserve goalkeepers with the Burras’ Ed Chittleborough joining the fray for the final 12 minutes.
Australia’s quarter-final clash will take place at 5:45pm local time on Thursday (11:15pm AEDT / 8:15pm AWST).
-HockeyAustralia
