China

The final game of the big month of International Hockey in Perth ends right here today at Curtin University between the Hockeyroos v Japan, even though the women’s four-team series winner already went to China after their 4-1 win v Japan last night that capped off their unbeaten run to the tournament including from last Sunday’s 2-2 draw with the Hockeyroos. 

Hockeyroos at last found the early lead where they usually score in the later stages thanks to a successful penalty goal by Clare Colwill while dominating the pitch with a 1-0 lead going into half-time. Then they went on to follow up with back-to-back counter attacking goals despite seeing some ill-discipline here and there by both sides – one was by Rosie Malone after Japan struggled to find someone at their own end and another was Maddy Brooks off the back of a tap and go play where she found Malone in the middle with the pass as the ball might have deflected by the Japanese keeper but Brooks fortunately found the clean finish to the net. In the end, the Hockeyroos were glad to finish off their month of April here with the win 3-0.

As said, great to see the Hockeyroos step up a bit having got away with the early penalty goal (1st quarter) before they went all in on the counter with back-to-back goals in the 2nd half or each of the last two quarters. What they can do something better though is make the most out of their attacking executions where hit and misses were there despite posing a decent threat in the final third. It might be okay when playing against a lower opposition like Japan but not against the best of the rest teams like China & the Netherlands. They need to better get it going right from the very start and surely we’ll see them score more often with a good lead in the middle. And on Japan, they were lucky to get away from most of the Hockeyroos missed shot on goal targets as the first half was mostly quiet even though they were 1-0 down by half-time. It made them spot the Hockeyroos attackers well defensively, having gave them a hard time like it was in the first game last Saturday. But still, they are still very limited in the way they attack who only scored just the one goal in this tournament (yesterday v China) other than playing Australia A. They might have almost scored that was so unlucky when they got the chance after the break but then not so much on a regularly as Japan need to group things together & score goals that would mean winning games.

Well that’s it from here as we had a great month of International Hockey at our own backyard in Perth. It began with a 5-0 winning whitewash by our men’s Kookaburras team fair and square v India. Yes, things aren’t exactly the same by the Hockeyroos when going up against a tough Chinese opposition whose coach is also Aussie and calls the Netherlands home, but still they had some moments with some wins v Japan while getting the chance to play against our up and coming youngsters via the Australia A team. Now let’s hope the Kookaburras finish off the last leg of the FIH Pro League campaign almost if not all being undefeated, while Hockeyroos look to improve against the likes of Argentina and Germany as they will both back in a month’s time on what is about to be a long stay in Europe with the Paris Olympics not far away in July-August.

We saw that coming when China won the opening Pro League season game v the Hockeyroos and yet we’ve seen this happening once again, even though the Hockeyroos played a bit more better where they fell short in the tri-series Kara night at the Perth Hockey Stadium. The first half was a goal scoring fest with China taking the early lead before the Hockeyroos bounced back with back-to-back goals in quick succession through open play as they lead 2-1 at half-time. Then things weren’t the same as the Hockeyroos couldn’t build on their lead up front that led to China scoring the second goal while having to suffer some ill-discipline along the way during the third quarter. Unfortunately, nothing much happened going into the last 15 mins with the defense including the keeper had a really hard time stopping the Chinese’s shifting passage of play before another conceded goal this time via penalty corner saw the writings on the wall as the clock ticks down. 

The final score was Hockeyroos 2-3 China with China well in the box seat towards taking home the women’s tri-series trophy as long as they beat Japan again on Saturday. Now we enter the weekend’s final slate of games before International Hockey will be back for 2nd half of the FIH Pro League season, which will resume in a month’s time all across Europe.

As said, the Hockeyroos had some moments where they were really threatening up front alongside a good defense that kept the Chinese in check all along. They just couldn’t make the most of the early starts which is one weakness that goes against them; Same goes when they led 2-1 after half-time where the momentum began to die down after a couple of hit and miss finishes & that’s where China were able to get it done in return. Gotta say a better early start and attacking conversions whilst leading would be the way to go if the Hockeyroos are to have a strong finish of the FIH Pro League season that would mean a strong Olympics campaign in Paris as they’re not there yet right now. They might have won big that late yesterday v Australia A but they still need to show a full hour performance come Sunday v Japan again. Meanwhile, China was able to regroup themselves following the Hockeyroos missed chances and put the pressure back onto the opposition by making their passage of play more organised through the channels where goals were made left, right and centre. Yes, they might had some weaknesses as the game goes on, particularly at the back. But when they shift themselves up front, they barely put a foot wrong with patience and it seems China were the better team after turning themselves around from 2-1 down at half-time to 3-2 in the end. Gotta say they deserve to take home this tri-series trophy as they are a team who won’t give anyone a free run including the Hockeyroos as if they see China as a 2nd Netherlands team when Alyson Annan is the coach there.

Well, we’ve got a draw at least having seen both teams score all two goals during each of the two separate halves to wrap up Game 2 in the women’s tri-series between the Hockeyroos v China at Curtin University (Perth Hockey Stadium) in Perth. The first 15 minutes was quiet for a start before China got away with back-to-back goals that gave them the upper hand going into the half-time break. Then the Hockeyroos were relieved to struck one back off the penalty corner by Greta Hayes in the 3rd quarter & although they might have ran out of time unlike yesterday v Japan when Mariah Williams scored the only late winner despite being a great threat in the attacking third, but a quick counter attacking finish by Steph Kershaw thanks to an excellent Hayes intercept was enough to hold China back & deny them the win with seven minutes left on the clock (4th Qtr).

We know how good China was when they make good use of the opposition’s missed opportunities and making the most of their own wisely that rang alarm bells to the Hockeyroos backline with back-to-back 2nd quarter goals in quick succession. If there’s one thing they will need to watch out for is their own defense. They were relieved to get away from the endless Hockeyroos shots on target where most of them were hit and misses but they really need to be careful at times and not losing the ball away which ruined their good start in the end. I would say though when they face Japan next up on Tuesday, they would wanna make the most of their attack against the opposition scrambled defense & that would be the key towards taking away that boost of confidence & possibly coming back better to haunt the Hockeyroos once more come Wednesday.

Meanwhile, it’s good to see the Hockeyroos posing a huge threat in their attack with lots of chances provided to get the job done. Now they could’ve done something better earlier on where there were a lack of numbers for someone to back one up & strike the ball through the net where the Hockeyroos would be pocketing 2-0 their way, not to the other team from China. But they have made some amends at last with Rosie Malone working so hard to take the ball off China later on that provided some much needed relief for the Hockeyroos to get back on track in the middle or within the circle with successful strikes coming from Hayes and Kershaw 1 v 1 past the keeper, even though a late win might have seen the ship being sailed away from both teams by full-time. They got a game next up against Australia A on Tuesday as part of the Olympic preparations that would help sort out their best squad ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris during July-August before coming back for another meeting v China come Wednesday as they need to make the most out of their attacking executions & not let these chances being hit & misses again while making the defense ready and alert so they don’t fall behind later during the match.