The Australian women’s team defeated Japan (1-0) in the sixth match in the test series between the two counties. A field goal of Madonna Blyth in the 61st minute gave the Hockeyroos the victory.

The win saw them take the series with five games to nil but had Japan made the most of their opportunities today it could very well have been a different story.

For the Hockeyroos, they too had their chances but the stacked Japanese defense kept the score at nil-all for most of the match with both sides attacking the goal. Both defenses though stood strong, rebounding the ball and sending it back from where it came.

As they've done all series, the Hockeyroos kept attacking, continually trying to make inroads through the heavily crowded defense. In the 61st minute, they managed to succeed, when Madonna Blyth found space in the circle, deftly flicking a baseline pass over the keeper for the lead.

With ten minutes left to play both sides stepped up their attack on the ball, with Japan having one very good opportunity going close. At full time though, the score remained unchanged, the Hockeyroos taking the win and the series.

"I was happy to win but it was a tired performance," said national coach, Frank Murray.

"Today we just weren't as hard as we needed to be, Japan made some very good opportunities but fortunately for us they didn't convert them. We were probably a bit lucky."

While disappointed with today's performance, Murray was happy with the series win.

"It wasn't a 5-0 series, Japan were a lot tougher than that score suggests. We definitely achieved a lot in this series though. Some of the younger players had some great opportunities and now know what it takes to play at this level."

The Hockeyroos will have a short rest after this series before heading to Beijing for the Olympic test event which will see them take on China, Argentina and South Africa from 8-13 August.

"Beijing is going to be tough. We'll be playing in 37 degree heat so it's going to be a real challenge, particularly against teams like China and Argentina. But we're going to go and play where we'll be playing in 12 months time so it'll be a good opportunity for us to continue our preparation for the Olympics."

This match also saw two milestones, Emily Halliday played her 150th match for the Hockeyroos, while for Japan Akemi Kato played her 300th.

Source: Hockey Australia