Who would’ve thought when the Kookaburras was on the brink of defeat after they were 3-0 down to the high flying Netherlands at half-time with gaps here & there in defense like it was against India the other day having been two goals behind at the break 4-2 before they completed an unreal comeback win in the end 6-4. But glad the game is not at all over and yet the Kookaburras began to make up lost time with back-to-back goals in the third quarter while the Dutch were scoreless as they were just a single goal behind them going into the final quarter. Although the Dutch struck one back to bring the equaliser (4-4) for the fourth goal after the Hockeyroos took the lead for the first time so late into the match, but again, the Kookaburras just never stopped working with loads of opportunities in the attacking third until things go their way in the end and fortunately, they are still undefeated at the end of the day with the win v the No.1 team by one point 4-5.
Gotta say the half-time pep talk has always paid off likewise with the India game where gaps were everywhere in defense from their end earlier on but glad they got into work right away from the restart including benefitting from the Netherlands’ 2nd half ill-discipline, especially when they turned things around by dominating attacking game time upfront. Blake Govers kept on scoring with two goals again in as many games now while Jeremy Hayward is excellent with two of his own off penalty corners. Yes, they might have made the odd disciplinary mistake whilst leading 3-4 as the Kookaburras might need to watch out there under pressure that led to a successful penalty goal from the Dutch. But speaking of under pressure, they never backed down thanks to their rejuvenated attacking intent and possession where Tim Brand brought out the game-winning strike with 30 seconds left on the clock before they defended well tight including a brilliant save until the end for the win.
And so sorry for the Dutch who did not hesitate to get the ball rolling with a brilliant start that demonstrated their top-notch dominance as always & it won’t be easy for the rest of the other teams to match that kind of standard. They thought it was their match quicksmart but that’s only one half of the match as their failure to stop the Kookaburras in their tracks came back to haunt them before it was too late to shut them down under pressure when the clock is running out of time. Now it’s the Hockeyroos’ turn to make the Dutch team pay by going one better in the next women’s match tomorrow after their 6-2 loss when they last met Friday last week but first they got India ahead not too long from now to start off their weekend run.