Australia thrashes India 5-0
Australia's dynamic midfield sparked an impressive second half surge as the Kookaburras crushed India 5-0 on the second night of the Four Nations men's hockey in Canberra .
In the match between the two first night winners, Australia led 1-0 at halftime through a 28th minute Michael McCann field goal.
The Kookaburra possession game was slicker than in their 4-2 opening night win over South Africa and the host nation launched several incisive second half raids.
Nathan Eglington triggered the second half scoring spree from a 41st minute penalty corner and Grant Schubert scored a field goal six minutes later.
Australia rammed home its advantage in the final quarter with Andrew Smith goaling from a 61st minute penalty corner and Travis Brookes netting from open play in the final seconds.
With Malaysia beating South Africa 3-2 in tonight's early game, Australia was the only team with maximum points after two rounds.
Australia heads the standings with a maximum six points, followed by India and Malaysia, both on three and with the same for-and-against, and South Africa nil.
Australian coach Barry Dancer said a lot his players performed well and praised the team effort rather than singling out an individual.
"I would say our midfield attack had a big hand in it, there was a lot of players in that role and I wouldn't say there was any particular stand out tonight to be honest," Dancer said.
"The first 15 minutes were even and I thought we probably got some ascendancy as the half wore on, but there were limited opportunities for both sides, so I think 1-0 was probably a fair indication.
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.