A 0-0 draw has seen Argentina take the best of 4 series against the Hockeyroos however Australia opened eyes after showing that they are capable of competing with the world’s best team.
Although Australia lost the series against Argentina, the Hockeyroos gained a significant confidence boost heading into the 2011 Champions Trophy which will be held in the Netherlands from June 25
For the Hockeyroos players, this series was their last chance to impress coach Adam Commens prior to the Champions Trophy squad being selected.
After a 1-0 loss, Argentina used the final game to make amends and immediately applied pressure on the Hockeyroos defence.
Argentina was awarded an early penalty corner and looked to capitalise on their momentum, however their penalty corner shot was run down before it put Hockeyroos goalkeeper under pressure and the ball was cleared to safety.
Mid way through the half, the Hockeyroos had settled in, and went on the offensive when they were awarded their first penalty corner which was taken by Jodie Schulz. However, Argentina applied as much pressure as possible to the shot, denying Schulz a good shot with the score remaining 0-0.
Argentina still looked very dangerous when entering their circle, and if not for some great efforts by Rachael Lynch in goal Australia could have found itself behind at half time.
After the half time break, the Hockeyroos had the first real scoring opportunity when Jade Close found space alone in the circle, however the shot went just over the crossbar.
When Kobie McGurk received a green card the Hockeyroos found themselves a player down for two minutes and Argentina almost made them pay, receiving a penalty corner. But once again, goalkeeper Rachael Lynch produced another great save.
It seemed the Hockeyroos had finally broken through for a goal when a fast pass found Ashleigh Nelson in the circle, but her deflection sailing just left of goal.
Argentina was also not without their chances when on a penalty corner attempt with seven minutes remaining the ball deflection off an outstretched Rachael Lynch and clipping the top of the crossbar.
Both teams were frantic in the final minutes and when the Hockeyroos were awarded a penalty corner with 15 seconds left, the stage was set for a memorable finish. However the shot was chased down ending the game at 0-0.
Hockeyroos coach Adam Commens said the most pleasing part of the series was the fact that the Hockeyroos didn’t concede a goal in the final two matches against such a quality team.
“I think it was a really promising series and I think we have progressed since we were last in Argentina. I think they have progressed as well mind you and there was some really encouraging performances . One of the things I would like to highlight is that they are probably the best attacking team in the world and they haven’t scored against us in the last 140 minutes of hockey. It’s a great effort from our defence,” said Commens.
Commens said the team will take lots of learnings form the matches.
“I think it showed that we have good depth. The Australia A team were really competitive with Argentina and that is our second side competing with the world champions which was marvellous. I think the other encouraging thing was that we are able to dominate games against such a talented opponent and able to create chances rather than just defend and create the odd chance on the counter attack,” said Commens.
The next big challenge for the Hockeyroos will come when they compete in the 2011 Champions Trophy which will be held in the Netherlands from June 25. After failing to qualify for last year’s Champions Trophy, the young team will be looking to gain some much needed world ranking points to improve on their current 6th place ranking.
Source: Hockey Australia Media Release
