Kookaburras halt India revival on Matt Dawson's special 200
Published Mon 08 Apr 2024
For the third time this year, the Kookaburras have pulled off a come-from-behind victory against a quality Indian outfit.
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24 hours after going down to the Kookaburras 5-1 at Perth Hockey Stadium in the opening match, India found their feet fast and ran out with a point to prove.
But despite shaping up as a much more rounded outfit, it took Jeremy Hayward just six minutes to find the back of the net, opening the scoring for Australia early.
And as the home crowd roared, India wasn't letting up. Jugraj Singh answered straight back in the 9th minute before their skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored with an incredible strike to put his side up 2-1 heading into the half.
"We spoke at halftime that we were getting chances inside the circle and they just weren't falling for us at that time," Jake Whetton said post-match.
"We knew if we kept I guess knocking down the door, as they say, one would go through so once we got that one the door opened for us and we were able to keep the pressure on and knock a couple more in."
As Jeremy Hayward bagged a double the game opened up and Australia regained the momentum.
A few quick saves to goalkeeper Ash Thomas kept Australia's momentum alive and by the 3rd quarter, Australia had bounced back to take a 4-2 lead.
And that's how the score would settle, marking a special night for Matt Dawson who smiled on reflection of his 200th match, with his 6-month-old son Darcy smiling with his dad.
"It's a bit hard to put into words, to be honest. It's an unreal experience having him here and one day I hope he will remember what I do… Mum might have to tell him one day how good Dad actually was!" Dawson said post-match.
"We've definitely been working on our mindset and we know our best hockey stacks up... If we stick to the process for long enough we're going to be able to overrun teams when we play our best."
The Kookaburras welcome a two-day break before taking on India in the third Test match on Wednesday night.
You can see the full Perth International Festival of Hockey schedule here.
Match Details
Kookaburras: 4 (Jeremy Hayward 6' & 34", Jacob Anderson 42', Nathan Ephraums 45')
India: 2 (Jugraj Singh 9', Harmanpreet Singh 30' & Amit Rohidas 52')
At Perth Hockey Stadium
Kookaburras: 3. Corey Weyer, 4. Jake Harvie, 6. Matt Dawson, 7. Nathan Ephraums, 9. Jacob Anderson, 10. Joshua Beltz, 11. Eddie Ockenden, 12. Jake Whetton, 17. Aran Zalewski (c), 19. Craig Marais, 21. Jack Welch, 22. Flynn Ogilvie, 23. Daniel Beale, 26. James Collins, 28. Ash Thomas (gk), 29. Tim Brand, 32. Jeremy Hayward
Unused substitute: 9. Johan Durst (gk)
