It was a tight match just now in the last few group stage Field Hockey matches for the men’s leg between the Kookaburras v India at Stade Yves-Du-Manoir (Pitch 2) with India off to a fast start (back-to-back goals in the 1st 15) while Kookaburras only got the one goal during the 2nd x 15 min, and nothing much has changed other than a late Kookaburras surge to try and arrest India towards the end, which was unsuccessful that delighted the Indian team & its supporters with the 3-2 win.
Credit to India with their win today off the back of their dominant possession that got the Kookaburras defenders rattled where most of the goals have come from open play including another via a penalty stroke – hats off there to Harmanpreet Singh for his two goal performance. They could’ve done more when looking to convert these strikes off penalty corners but at least having a rock solid defense on top of a well-structured attack would do enough for India to stop the Kookaburras from settling the score, especially during the last few minutes when the opposition’s last-minute appeal wasn’t successful with the 3-2 win. Yes, they have finally done it v Australia in an Olympics Field Hockey match for the first time that goes way back to Munch in 1972 where they’ve last won it beforehand until now 3-1 via the Pool B group stage match. Now their next match will either be Team GB or Spain depending on the final group stage results later tonight if Team GB can beat Germany there since they finished 2nd in their Group B ladder regardless of the Argentina v Belgium result there due to goal difference.
Now the Kookaburras would be left frustrated and disappointed with their missed scoring opportunities that eventually came back to bite them when India got away with three goals before it was too little, too late. They had picked up some ball including come circle time up front, having took one penalty corner goal going into half-time where the Kookaburras weren’t far away from India’s radar for the overall lead including their second goal off a penalty stroke. It’s just a shame they struggled to match the counter-attack India has set up all game via open play and not even the ill-discipline has helped that much either. All they can hope now is for Belgium to beat Argentina later on and even Team GB to beat Germany at the same time, so the Kookaburras can avoid taking on the No.1 ranked Netherlands from Pool A in the Quarter-Finals starting this weekend.
