Australia claimed their sixth bronze medal in their men’s Olympic history as their all-out aggression eventually wore down hosts Great Britain in the third place playoff, the penultimate match of the London Games. Close range rebounds from Jamie Dwyer and Kieran Govers saw them over the line after Simon Orchard’s thunderbolt was counteracted by Iain Lewers’ corner goal.

It meant the kookaburras finished third for the fourth time in five Games while 1988 remains the last time GB were on the medal podium. Throughout, Australia were the side to force the issue, their swarming forwards pressurising the home defence into a series of mistakes but they proved profligate in converting circle entries into clean chances.

They were almost caught on the counter-attack, though, as Dan Fox’s excellent diagonal overhead found Barry Middleton. He chose to angle a pass to the back post rather than shoot himself, allowing Timothy Deavin the chance to intercept. Australia did hit the front in the 18th minute when Simon Orchard smashed home his 39th international goal, working his way through a tackle into the circle before unleashing a furious strike through James Fair’s desperate dive.

Richard Smith was needed to hustle another effort out of the goalmouth moments later but GB hit back when Harry Martin barreled through a couple of tackles to win his side’s first penalty corner. They chose a sweet option with Ashley Jackson firing the ball back to the injector Iain Lewers who swept home first time, leaving the tie 1-1 at the break.

The green and golds kept their philosophy for the second period, Glenn Turner and Deavin combining well to draw a good near post save from Fair. Matt Daly’s near post effort thudded off Nathan Burgers pads in a brief bit of respite before Australia started to turn the screw. The second of three video-aided penalty corners found its way in from Dwyer as Govers’ drag-flick popped up invitingly at the second attempt.

Two more corners went incomplete but Govers grabbed the clincher as a Dwyer punch-shot again rebounded perfectly and the Aussie volleyed home. GB finished with a big final push but Burgers was never truly tested and their wait for a medal continues for another four years.

(Stephen Findlater)

Mark KNOWLES (AUS) - bronze

On winning the bronze medal: "It was a good game, it was a typical bronze medal game. We had both just come out of the devastation of losing in the semifinal and wanting to get the most out of this. Losing the semifinals is one of the most heartbreaking moments of your career. So I am glad we came out on the right end (today).

 "I am very happy about the bronze, we came here for gold, but if you can't get that, there is only one other thing left to get and we did. Our assistant coach has been to an Olympics and came fourth and that is a horrible feeling. I am really proud of the medals I have won, you win whatever you can and not many people in the world can say they have three Olympic medals. I am very proud of my team, how they responded after losing in the semifinals, of their effort today and the lift in them."

Jamie DWYER (AUS) - bronze

 On winning the bronze medal: "Today, we followed our game-plan better, we went after them and were relentless for the full 70 minutes. Today we did it better because we held the ball better. Against Germany and other games we didn't hold the ball for long enough periods and that's what let us down. Today we played really well and it is good to take something away from this Olympics."

On what Australia did well against Great Britain: "We put the goalkeeper under a lot of pressure and got a lot of people in the right positions inside the circle, it is something we've been concentrating on for a long time now and we got a few goals."

On his assessment of the campaign: "The crowd here was very knowledgeable and was packed out. The rule changes since four years ago have been really brilliant for the game. It's just unfortunate we didn't make the final after having such a successful four years. We wanted to be in the main game on the final day, but that did not happen. It's still good we pulled it together and are coming home with a bronze medal."

Barry MIDDLETON (GBR)

 On the match: "For a defeat this is what you want to feel like. That you have given your all, gone out there and done it properly. It felt like we did that today and couldn't do any more. They are a brilliant team and thoroughly deserved it on the day. We were close, just little things here and there could have made a difference. It's pretty gut-wrenching."

James TINDALL (GBR)

On the team performance: "We put in a good performance, it just wasn't to be. We tried everything and it didn't quite fall for us. We were a bit unlucky at things, but that's sport. It's never nice to come fourth at an Olympic games but we've just got to say thank you to the crowd for always being there for every single game."

On the difference between the two teams: "I don't really know. They took their chances and when we got to the other end it just didn't fall for us, and we didn't get the luck. I don't think there's too big gaps of quality of teams. One got the slice of luck and the other didn't."