Champions Trophy winners strike form against India for first win in 2010 hockey World Cup.
High-flying India were shot down to earth by a robust Australian display that left a capacity crowd at Delhi’s National Stadium totally deflated on Tuesday night. The Champions Trophy winners dominated the group B contest against India and the 5-2 scoreline was an apt reflection of that. The Australian led 3-1 at halftime.
Conceding two goals in the first 8 minutes and then taking in another couple inside seven minutes after the breather ruined India. Australia missed a sixth goal when Jamie Dwyer missed a stroke in the 66th minute. Indian goalie Adrian D’Souza dived the right way to deny the Aussie skipper.India scored once in each half. A desperate Vikram Pillai converted a Gurbaz Singh cross at the stroke of half-time. And, in the 53rd minute, a rare flash of brilliance by veteran Arjun Halappa set up skipper Rajpal Singh for the second goal.
As has been their trademark, Australia made a Mike Tyson-like start, bulldozing the Indian defence from the word go. Before the Indian defence could settle down, Liam De Young had an easy passage into the scoring area and made it 1-0 in the third minute. Glenn Turner scored the first of his two goals in the 8th minute.
As has been their trademark, Australia made a Mike Tyson-like start, bulldozing the Indian defence from the word go. Before the Indian defence could settle down, Liam De Young had an easy passage into the scoring area and made it 1-0 in the third minute. Glenn Turner scored the first of his two goals in the 8th minute.
Turner scored Australia’s fifth goal in the 42nd minute after Like Doerner made it 4-1 five minutes after the change of ends. Both goals were gifts from a sloppy Indian defence that wilted under pressure after the early Aussie onslaught.But the best goal of the match came in the 27th minute. It was a classic three-man move initiated by Grant Schubert.
The Indian defence was dissected with clinical precision as Schubert weaved through and set up Desmond Abbot with the simplest of tap ins.Australia’s aggression paid off in a must-win game after England had stunned them in their first game of the world championship. Australia created numerous chances by playing long balls and using the wingers to telling effect.
The Indian deep defence had a horrible day as they left huge gaps for the Aussies to exploit.India barely created a chance in the first half. The half-line was non-existent but the wingers tried their best to test the Aussie defence. Quite a few passes travelled across the face of the Australian goal largely because the strikers were out of position.Australia resorted to zonal marking and always had extra personnel to take on the Indian forwards.
India’s biggest problem was releasing the ball. Gurwinder’s over-dribbling often left Prabhjot Singh begging for a goal-scoring pass.In spite of home advantage, India failed to overturn history. Australia scored their fifth World Cup win against India in seven matches so far. Fittingly, Australia were awarded the Ajitpal Singh-Ric Charlesworth Trophy after the match.
No comments:
Post a Comment