The Aussie Sharks have continued their preparations for the 16TH FINA World Championships with a replay of their opening game from last weeks Vodafone Cup against Hungary in Miskolc, Hungary.
It was again Hungary who took the spoils with a 10-7 victory, courtesy of a strong third quarter, however the Sharks showed significant signs of improvement against the current world champions.
While the Sharks had been plagued by slow starts at the Vodafone Cup, it looked as though they had turned a corner in their re-match against Hungary, head coach Elvis Fatovic pleased with the early gains made by his team, outlining that mistakes at key times were the reason for the three goal loss.
“We started really well in the first two quarters. Our defence was strong and we were creating opportunities in attack,” Fatovic said.
“We made possession mistakes in the third quarter, and the one team you cannot do that against is Hungary. They punished by scoring three goals in the space of one and a half minutes. This gave them the momentum in the game.”
“There has been some improvement from the last game and for us to have a good result in Kazan we need to avoid the basic individual errors that cause turnovers or goals.”
The Sharks displayed greater variation in their attack from the outset of he game, Richie Campbell and WAIS athlete Aaron Younger both scoring in the first term, while Campbell, Nathan Power and Johnno Cotteril all found the back of the net in the second quarter, the score 5-4 in Australia’s favour at half time.
It was the third stanza where the game was lost, Hungary quick to punish the few mistakes of the Sharks as they romped to five goals for the quarter, jumping into the lead 9-6 at the final change.
Although the Sharks quickly recovered to equal Hungary at one goal apiece in the final quarter, they weren’t able to rectify the losses of the penultimate period. Sharks goalkeeper James Stanton-French saying that the result may not have been ideal, but the team made positive steps forward ahead of the world championships.
“It was disappointing to lose today after a good start, but overall I think our defence is becoming more coordinated and our attack more varied and dangerous,” Stanton-French said.
“One of the hardest things about playing Hungary is that when you do make a mistake, they’re good at converting it into scoreboard pressure.
“Our focus now is to make a more consistent application of the game plan throughout the four quarters.”
The Sharks will continue training with Hungary before embarking on their final preparations for the world championships with games against Brazil, in Dubrovnik.
WAIS was represented by athletes Aaron Younger, Joel Swift and George Ford, whilst WAIS men’s coach Paul Oberman is a member of the coaching staff with the Sharks.
-WaterPoloAus
