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Typhoon Kookaburras KO Olympic Champs

 

Typhoon Kookaburras KO Olympic Champs

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AOC
Tokyo 2020 - Kookaburras vs Argentina

HOCKEY: Reigning Olympic champions Argentina met a typhoon on two fronts today: the first was Tokyo’s wild weather, the second the lethal Kookaburras who showed no mercy claiming a 5-2 victory in their third Pool match of the men’s hockey tournament.

In what was dubbed as the match of Pool A, the Australians notched a convincing third straight victory to stamp themselves as one of the teams to beat for Olympic gold.

The win was the 44th for the Kookaburras from 59 internationals against Argentina. It places them at the top of their Pool, with three straight wins, and with an impressive goal tally of 17 with two Pool matches to play against New Zealand and Spain.

But success came with a warning, Head Coach Colin Batch knowing his team have a target on their backs with every opponent they come up against.

“I reinforced that with the guys after the game today,” Batch said.

“Every time someone comes up against us, they are going to have a crack, that’s normal in any competition.

“It’s a big challenge for everyone and it’s a big challenge for us to keep finding a way to win.

“I think we were able to do that today. We need to keep doing that for the duration of the tournament.”

The Kookaburras were put under pressure early in the match from the South Americans, with drag flick specialist Jose Leandro Tolini converting on a second penalty corner attempt to give his side the lead in the first three minutes.

Poised and determined defence by postman Flynn Ogilvie and goalkeeper Andrew Charter denied a relentless Argentinian onslaught.

The Kookaburras stepped up in the final 30 seconds of the first quarter to convert a critical penalty corner off a well drilled Jeremy Hayward - Blake Govers battery to level the scores at 1-1.

The world number one team built on this momentum in the second quarter scoring three goals in 10 minutes to signal their gold medal intentions.

In what was an explosive display of teamwork, Tim Brand found Tom Wickham at the goal mouth to score, before Govers converted an impressive drag flick from a penalty corner to give him a first half brace.

Flashy Lithgow forward Lachi Sharp scored his maiden Olympic goal slapping in a cross from Wickham to give the Kookaburras a comfortable 4-1 lead at the break.

As the typhoon-induced weather calmed in the second half, so did the Kookaburras’ play with the side embracing coach Batch’s “smart and patient” strategy to control the powerhouse Argentineans.

Darwin’s Hayward then joined the party with an impressive drag flick in the 39th minute.

Argentina fought through to the final whistle with Maico Casella Schuth reinstating some confidence in his side, converting from a penalty corner to make the final score 5-2.

“This was certainly a different game and we expected that,” Batch said.

“Argentina are a slightly different style, they started very well, so for the third game in a row we were under some early pressure.

“This is something we need to correct, but once we got back into the game with our possession, it was very good.

“The second quarter was really good and that was the break we needed.

“This is a long tournament, and we are not even halfway through; there is still a lot of hockey in front of us.”
Australia faces Trans-Tasman rival New Zealand on Wednesday night at 10.15pm AEST in what will be the teams’ seventh encounter this year. 

Match Details 
Argentina 2 (Tolini 4’, Casella Schuth 55’) 
Kookaburras 5 (Govers 15’/23’, Wickham 21’, Sharp 25’, Hayward 39’) 
@ Oi Hockey Stadium, Tokyo 

Kookaburras: 1.Lachlan Sharp, 5.Tom Wickham, 6.Matthew Dawson, 10.Josh Beltz, 11.Eddie Ockenden, 12.Jake Whetton, 13.Blake Govers, 14.Dylan Martin, 15.Josh Simmonds, 16.Tim Howard, 17.Aran Zalewski (c), 22.Flynn Ogilvie, 23.Daniel Beale, 29.Tim Brand, 30.Andrew Charter (gk), 32.Jeremy Hayward.

Catriona Dixon

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