HOCKEY: In a fast and physical second clash against Great Britain in Bunbury, the Hockeyroos went down 1-0 to the world number six team on Sunday afternoon.
Susie Gilbert’s penalty corner rebound early in the second quarter made the difference to level the series at one victory each.
Speaking afterwards, Head Coach Adam Commens said, “It was a better performance in terms of tiding up our defence and creating more chances today, however, the quality was not at the same level as Friday.
To win a match you need to score penalty corners and field goals, and we were unable to do that today.
“We want to win matches, however, winning now is not the important thing.
It’s about improving our processes so when we get to Rio we fully understand what we are able to achieve as a team.”
Speaking about the first two matches of the series being hosted in Bunbury and the friendly local support that the community has shown, Commens added, “The support from the local community has been brilliant. It’s fantastic to come to a place like Bunbury and have the support that we have had over the past few days.
Today they were pretty vocal and that really drove the girls to be better. We would have no hesitation to come back to Bunbury in the future.”
Three minutes after the starting whistle, forward Gabrielle Nance worked the ball into Australia’s attacking circle, pushing the ball onto a Great Britain foot and earning the Hockeyroos the first penalty corner opportunity of the match. Standing tall at the top of Australia’s battery, Jodie Kenny’s powerful drag flick was off target and flew over the top of the goal, leaving the score untouched at 0-0.
Awarded another penalty corner only a few minutes later, Australia seemed to be doing all the right things to get the ball into their attacking third, however, it was clear they were struggling to execute their valuable opportunities in the circle.
It was at the 18th minute mark that Great Britain received an opportunity to break the deadlock.
Off the back of a penalty corner drag flick, Susie Gilbert managed to make contact with the ball off Australian goalkeeper Ashlee Wells’ rebound.
Redirecting the ball into the back of the net, Gilbert set the visitors up with a 1-0 lead.
After the halftime break, the action started to heat up.
Numerous penalty corner opportunities were awarded, however, both teams struggled to break down robust defensive structures at both ends of the field.
Continuing to fight for the ball with nine minutes remaining on the clock, Australia’s hard work was rewarded with a chance to equalise after the ball made contact with a Great Britain foot.
Jodie Kenny’s on-target drag flick was once again rejected by Great Britain’s goalkeeper Kirsty Mackay, handing the visitors a 1-0 victory over the Hockeyroos.
The Hockeyroos will now return to Perth to play their third match of the series on Tuesday at 6pm AWST at the Perth Hockey Stadium.
The match will be streamed live on epicentre.tv from 5:45pm AWST / 8:45pm AEDT.
Hockeyroos' squad v Great Britain
Started
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD) 321/70
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT) 94/2
Anna Flanagan (Canberra, ACT) 158/34
Jodie Kenny (Wamuran, QLD) 159/93
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW) 27/4
Gabrielle Nance (Kingscliff, NSW) [SASI athlete] 21/1
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT) 76/13
Casey Sablowski (South Coast, NSW) 233/44
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW) 140/57
Ashlee Wells (Moe, VIC) 67/0
Mariah Williams (Parkes, NSW) 35/5
Used Substitute
Teneal Attard (Mackay, QLD) 220/10
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, NSW) [QAS athlete] 14/3
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA) 196/67
Georgie Parker (Berri, SA) 88/26
Kathryn Slattery (South Stirling, WA) 38/11
Grace Stewart (Gerringong, NSW) 4/1
Did Not Play
Laura Barden (Kew, VIC) 8/3
Jocelyn Bartram (Albury, NSW) 0/0
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA) 81/9
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD) 93/2
Kate Hanna (Constitution Hill, NSW) 6/0
Rachael Lynch (Melbourne, VIC) 141/0
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC) 167/33
Kaitlin Nobbs (Newington, NSW) 0/0
Madi Ratcliffe (Warrnambool, VIC) 0/0
Renee Taylor (Everton Park, QLD) 10/0
Kellie White (Crookwell, NSW) 92/29
Fixtures & Results
Friday 12 February: Bunbury & Districts Hockey Stadium (4-3 AUS)
Sunday 14 February: Bunbury & Districts Hockey Stadium (1-0 GBR)
Tuesday 16 February: 9:00pm AEDT / 6:00pm AWST, Perth Hockey Stadium
Thursday 18 February: 9:00pm AEDT / 6:00pm AWST, Perth Hockey Stadium
Saturday 20 February: 6:00pm AEDT / 3:00pm AWST, Perth Hockey Stadium
Sunday 21 February: 6:00pm AEDT / 3:00pm AWST, Perth Hockey Stadium
Live streaming
The Hockeyroos' Great Britain series is being live streamed via Epicentre.TV in Bunbury and Perth.
Hockey Australia
