By Rajeev Kumar
Bhubaneswar, Dec 6: In sports or for that matter in life, there is no place for those who miss opportunities. The World and five-times reigning champions Australia realised this Saturday as they were stunned 3-1 by an electric England in the opening tie of the Champions Trophy hockey tournament here at the Kalinga Stadium.
Fielding a relatively inexperienced side, the Kookaburras found themselves clueless against England as the latter dominated most of the match and quelled the occasional Australian surge with crafty passes, much to the delight of over 3,000 fans gathered here to witness the spectacle.
England took a lead as early as in the sixth minute of the game as Alastair Brogdon won possession in the circle and overcame Australian goalkeeper Andrew Charter with a crafty backhand stroke.
The absence of experience among the Australians was clearly visible as they missed to convert a number of opportunities into goals. In the second quarter, the reigning champions tried to come back strongly but were unable to convert three back-to-back penalty corners starting in the 19th minute.
England, however, doubled their lead in the 27th minute when 23-year-old debutant Samuel Ward hit the ball forcefully into the goal after the ball had bounced off the Australian post. Incidentally, Ward had joined the team last week as a replacement of injured Harry Martin.
In the third quarter, the Australians returned with more aggression but were equally matched by their English counterparts. Both teams created goal opportunities but were denied by English goalkeeper Pinner George and the Australian Andrew Charter respectively. Twenty seven-year-old Andrew made some spectacular saves in the 39th and 40th minute of the game, stopping two penalty corner conversion attempts from England.
In the last quarter, the Kookaburras tried to surge with speed and aggression in a desperate attempt at breaching the English defence but could manage only one goal when Chris Ciriello converted a penalty corner in the 54th minute.
However, the surge couldn’t last long as they forced a penalty corner just four minutes before the end of the game. After hitting the post, the ball ricocheted from the post before English captain Barry Middleton cleared the line, allowing his team to sweep forward and man of the match Ward to make home with a lovely 3-1 finish.
Although, a minute of drama followed in the field after the goal as the Australians claimed they had requested a video referral before the third English goal. However, the video umpire awarded the goal to England who won three points and their first game against the Kookaburras in the Champions Trophy history.
Meanwhile, the Australians entered the field wearing black arm bands as a tribute to the late cricketer Philip Hughes. Speaking about the match, Australian coach Graham Reid who had earlier said he is preparing a team for the future rued the missed chances by ‘young players’. “Our players started slowly and we failed to convert penalty corner chances which cost us the match.” Reid said.
English captain, Barry Middleton, looked content and elated after their first win against the Kookaburras. However, he said that this is just the beginning. “We will have to play our best in the upcoming matches.”