HOCKEY: A late on-target drag flick from Hockeyroos’ Georgina Morgan sealed Australia a 1-0 victory over China in their opening match at the World League Final Sunday morning in Rosario.
Hockeyroos head coach Adam Commens was pleased to get the result against China in the opening pool match after facing them earlier in the year during a Sydney Test Series.
“China are improving all the time and we know they can be dangerous on the counterattack. Our team created a lot of chances today, they worked well in the lead up to the attacking 25, however, we obviously need to tidy up our execution and our attacking third of the pitch, which is something we have been and will continue to work on over the next few matches before the finals.
“I was really pleased with some of our younger players today, Gabrielle Nance and Mariah Williams had a solid performance as did Georgina Morgan who scored the outstanding goal for us today, really strong performances from younger players.”
Despite a 30 minute delayed start due to power failure at the Estadio Mundialista de hockey stadium in Rosario, the Hockeyroos battled back after a slow first half to outrun a determined Chinese side.
Australia managed to create valuable chances in the first 30 minutes of play, however, it was their execution that ultimately failed them in their attacking circle. Chinese goalkeeper Dongxiao Li denied Australia’s attacking front on multiple occasions, resulting is a nil all score heading into the halftime break.
Australia came back on the field firing after halftime, working two great opportunities in the circle, however, youngster Gabrielle Nance was unable to place the ball into the back of the net on both occasions.
At the 40th minute mark, Australia were awarded their first penalty corner of the match. Georgina Morgan stepped forward sweeping the ball only marginally wide of the goal and the score remained deadlocked 0-0.
Following four minutes later, Australia received a critical penalty corner off the back of a video referral. Standing tall alongside Jodie Kenny at the top of Australia’s attacking battery, Georgina Morgan redeemed her previous penalty corner attempt by successfully hitting her target with a low drag flick to the bottom left, handing Australia a 1-0 lead.
With 17 minutes remaining on the clock, Australia’s defence managed to hold out China’s attacking opportunities, which meant Morgan’s earlier strike was enough to secure the Hockeyroos a 1-0 victory on the final siren.
Hockeyroos’ 2015 Player of the Year and Top Goal Scorer Jodie Kenny played her 150th game for the Hockeyroos. Since debuting in 2011, Kenny has played a key role in the Hockeyroos’ defence.
Speaking about Australia’s second pool match against world number three Argentina on Monday, Commens added, “Argentina are a really high class team with a lot of attacking ability while showcasing some outstanding athletes in their side. They’re always difficult to beat at home, so we will be doing our homework and making sure that we take a step forward from today’s match and I’m pretty confident if we can do that well then it will be good enough to get the result tomorrow.”
The Hockeyroos face Argentina in their second pool match on Monday morning (11:00am AEDT). Australia last played Argentina in the quarter final at the Hawkes Bay Cup in New Zealand earlier this year, where Australia defeated Las Leonas 1-0.
Pool A
1. Netherlands (3 points)
2. New Zealand (3 points)
3. Korea (0 points)
4. Germany (0 points)
Pool B
1. Australia (3 points)
2. Argentina (0 points)*
3. China (0 points)
4. Great Britain (0 points)*
*Argentina and Great Britain still to play their first pool match.
Hockeyroos' squad v China
Started
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD) 312/68
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA) 74/6
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD) 86/8
Jodie Kenny (Wamuran, QLD) 150/92
Rachael Lynch (Warrandyte, VIC) 131/0
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA) 81/8
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW) 17/2
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC) 164/32
Kathryn Slattery (South Stirling, WA) 29/8
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW) 131/56
Mariah Williams (Parkes, NSW) 25/4
Used Substitute
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT) 85/2
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, NSW) [QAS athlete] 7/3
Gabrielle Nance (Kingscliff, NSW) [SASI athlete] 12/1
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA) 187/66
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT) 66/12
Ashlee Wells (Moe, VIC) 59/0
Did Not Play
Renee Taylor (Everton Park, QLD) 5/0
Remaining Hockeyroos fixtures
Monday 7 December: 11:00am AEDT: Hockeyroos v Argentina
Wednesday 9 December: 4:15am AEDT: Hockeyroos v Great Britain
Friday 11 December: tbc: Quarter final
Sunday 13 December: tbc: Semi final / 5-8 playoffs
Monday 14 December: tbc: Medal matches
Hockey Australia
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