The Aussie Sharks have put up a brave fight before going down 10-7 to tournament hotshots Serbia in their opening game of the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
The Australians traded goals with the European powerhouse early in the game, trailing 4-3 at quarter time and 6-3 at the main break before a mini-fightback saw them get within a goal at 6-5 midway through the third term.
Serbia, who were dominating in extra man situations, then stemmed the flow, leading 7-5 at three quarter time before closing out the match with a 3-2 last quarter.
WAIS had two athletes representing Australia, with both Aaron Younger and Joel Swift managing to find the net in the Sharks’ three goal loss.
Australian Billy Miller, the team’s leading goalscorer at the London Olympic Games, said that while his side was disappointed in the result, all was not lost.
“It wasn’t the start we were looking for but there are plenty of positives to take from the game,” Miller said.
“There were a few key areas in extra man defence that let us down and some poor decisions in attack but all in all it’s the first game of the two week tournament and we will better for it in the next game.”
Australia’s head coach Elvis Fatovic echoed Miller’s statement about the six on five situations.
“We played some good water polo against the world’s best team but continued to make mistakes in extra man defence,” Fatovic.
“When we tried to stop Serbia’s counter attack they were just too good.”
On the positive side, Australia had seven individual scorers for their seven goals, sharing the load across the pool in a game that was played at a sizzling pace.
Captain Rhys Howden, noting the speed of the game, was upbeat about the week ahead.
“Playing a high tempo game plan I think took it out of us a bit and resulted in a few lapses in concentration that they converted on,” Howden said.
“They are a very experienced team and took advantage of that. We will regroup and take a look at a few things and keep on improving though the tournament.”
Australia’s next outing is against Asian rivals China at 8.10pm AEST on Wednesday, while the Australian women’s team will also play the Chinese with their game tonight at 650pm AEST.
-WaterPoloAustralia