Hockeyroos inch closer to Olympic qualification after stalemate
Published Sat 12 Aug 2023
A 51st minute equaliser from Rosie Malone has the Hockeyroos within touching distance of a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as Match 2 of the Oceania Cup against New Zealand finished 1-1 in Whangarei.
Malone’s strike to cancel out Hannah Cotter’s 37th minute goal for the Black Sticks means a win, draw or loss by less than three goals in tomorrow’s third and final match will send the Hockeyroos to next year’s Games in Paris.
Entering the match off an impressive 3-0 win in Match 1, the Hockeyroos were going to be forced to absorb a wave of early New Zealand pressure as the hosts aimed to keep themselves alive in the series.
The first half was an arm wrestle as defences reigned supreme, neither side able to create golden clear cut chances.
With the game in the balance, something had to give and it was the Hockeyroos who cracked first when Black Sticks livewire Olivia Shannon found two teammates unmarked in the circle with just Australian goalkeeper Jocelyn Bartram to beat.
Hannah Cotter, who plays for HC Melbourne in the Hockey One League, found herself on the end of the well worked move to put the Black Sticks in front midway through the third quarter.
Having struggled to capture the level they reached in game one two days earlier, conceding the goal seemingly kicked the Hockeyroos into gear as they began to find their mojo.
Amy Lawton forced a save from goalkeeper Grace O’Hanlon in the 50th minute as the Hockeyroos started to ask questions of a stubborn New Zealand defence.
What could prove to be the decisive goal of the series came a minute later when a determined Jane Claxton sent the ball into the circle, Brooke Peris helped it on and Malone who had lost her marker managed to loft the ball over O’Hanlon and across the goal line.
Knowing a draw would make the permutations heading into the final match increasingly difficult, the Black Sticks withdrew O’Hanlon with five minutes to go in desperate search of a winner.
The hosts won a penalty corner with four minutes remaining, but Bartram came up with a clutch save to keep out Olivia Merry’s drag flick.
That would be the last goalmouth action of the match as the Hockeyroos know they now have their Olympic destiny well and truly in their own hands.
“We would have liked to have ended the series today but that goal was definitely important for us heading into tomorrow,” said Grace Stewart.
“We pride ourselves on playing the full sixty minutes and grinding it out and I think that showed today.”
“We knew New Zealand were going to come out tough today. They were tough on Thursday but we knew today that they were going to step it up another level.”
“We’re not trying to think about the outcome tomorrow, just take it a game at a time and make sure we put out a good performance tomorrow.”
The third and final match is at 2pm AEST tomorrow. The Oceania Cup is LIVE and free on 7plus.
Match Details
New Zealand 1 (Cotter 37’)
Hockeyroos 1 (Malone 51’)
@ Whangarei
Hockeyroos: 1.Claire Colwill, 2.Rosie Malone, 3.Brooke Peris, 4.Amy Lawton, 6.Penny Squibb, 13.Hattie Shand, 14.Stephanie Kershaw, 15.Kailtin Nobbs, 16.Courtney Schonell, 18.Jane Claxton, 19.Jocelyn Bartram (gk), 20.Karri Somerville, 21.Renee Taylor, 22.Tatum Stewart, 24.Mariah Williams, 29.Rebecca Greiner, 30.Grace Stewart (c)
Unused substitute: 41.Zoe Newman (gk)
