Kookaburras find their mojo to overcome Argentina
Published Fri 03 Mar 2023
The Kookaburras have returned to winning ways with a character filled 3-0 victory over Argentina in their FIH Pro League match at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre.
Without a win in their opening two matches, the Kookaburras made a lightning start as Tim Brand, in his first appearance of the series, put the hosts ahead with a trademark baseline move in the second minute, his eventual flick ending up over the goal line.
The first quarter was fast and frenetic with chances coming at both ends. A set move from a penalty corner saw Blake Govers with a backdoor pass to his partner in crime Jeremy Hayward who flicked a rocket but Argentina keeper Nehuen Hernando pulled off a stunning save to keep it out.
Argentina thought they had found an equaliser in the 34th minute, however the umpire’s original decision was reversed after the Kookaburras successfully called for a video referral.
The Kookaburras’ astute judgement to review paid further dividends when Tom Craig burst into the attacking circle and smacked a shot low on the reverse underneath a diving Hernando into the backboard to make it 2-0.
When Kookaburras defender Matt Dawson received a yellow card with six minutes to go in the third quarter, it briefly opened the door for Argentina.
The Kookaburras successfully reviewed another decision that would have given Argentina a penalty corner, before Govers bought out the best of Hernando again with a well-directed drag flick at the other end after Lachlan Sharp earned the set piece.
After giving up a lead against Argentina on Tuesday, the Kookaburras were not going to let a similar advantage slip as Nathan Ephraums added a third in the 47th minute.
The 23 year old was fastest to react as he slapped the ball into the net at chest height from point blank range after Hernando blocked a Govers drag flick.
Ephraums narrowly missed an opportunity to score another late on but it mattered little as the Kookaburras recorded a confidence building win.
“We haven’t been playing the way we want to, so getting a win in a big game like this great,” said Jacob Anderson, who celebrated his 50th game.
“A first win for Ako (Jayden Atkinson), first win for Jeremy (Hayward) as captain, so the boys were pumped about it.”
“Essentially we failed in what we wanted to achieve at the World Cup, so it took a couple of games to nut that out and today we had that real desire.”
“Defensively we have been putting in a lot of work, we put a lot of pressure on them and the intensity was spot on today.”
“It reinforces that we are one of the best teams in the world. We want to build and get back to number one and a lot of that is about belief.”
The Kookaburras take on Spain in their final match of this ‘mini tournament’ at 5pm AEDT tomorrow.
Match Details
Kookaburras 3 (Brand 2’, Craig 36’, Ephraums 47’)
Argentina 0
@ Tasmanian Hockey Centre
Kookaburras: 1.Lachlan Sharp, 2.Tom Craig, 4.Jake Harvie, 6.Matthew Dawson, 7.Nathan Ephraums, 9.Jacob Anderson, 10.Josh Beltz, 11.Eddie Ockenden, 13.Blake Govers, 14.Dylan Martin, 15.Jayden Atkinson, 16.Tim Howard, 17.Aran Zalewski, 18.Ben Rennie (gk), 21.Jack Welch, 29.Tim Brand, 32.Jeremy Hayward (c)
Unused substitute: 8.Johan Durst (gk)
