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AUS V NZL ( 3rd / 4th ) Hockey World League Semi-Final Antwerp 2015

AUS

4 - 2

NZL

Match Review AUS - NZL 4-2

AUS v NZL Goal 2 for AUSPosted July 4, 2015

AUS v NZL Goal 1 for AUSPosted July 4, 2015

AUS v NZL Pressure from NZLPosted July 4, 2015

AUS v NZL Goal 1 for NZLPosted July 4, 2015

AUS v NZL Goal 4 for AUSPosted July 4, 2015

AUS v NZL Goal 2 for NZLPosted July 4, 2015

Australia won the third place match against their Oceania rivals New Zealand with a dominant display of attacking hockey and determined defence. New Zealand had their moments but in truth, the Hockeyroos set out their stall early and, despite conceding two goals, were never going to let go of the third Olympic qualification spot. The final scoreline of 4-2 belies a match that the Australia team never looked like losing.

Australia took a decisive hold of the game with two goals within two minutes, the first from Emily Smith (3') and the second from Jane Claxton (4').

Rocked by the whirlwind, New Zealand looked at sixes and seven's for much of the first quarter and Australia won a series of penalty corners. Sally Rutherford, in the Black Sticks goal, was called on to make some athletic saves, and the 'keeper didn't disappoint. However, even plucky Rutherford was unable to stop Australia's third goal. Her initial save bounced back to Mariah Williams (15') who put the ball away at the second attempt.

After the break, New Zealand came back into the game with renewed belief. A period of sustained pressure by the Black Sticks provided the perfect platform for Stacey Michelesen (38') to demonstrate her skill and speed. The forward weaved through the Australian defence and slotted past Ashlee Wells to reduce the deficit.

It wasn't just at the attacking end of the pitch that New Zealand began to show their mettle. A combined effort from Brook Neal and Rose Keddell stopped an almost certain fourth goal, Keddell stopping the shot and Neal calmly clearing. It was Neal who bravely saved from a Hockeyroos penalty corner minutes later, the ball was mis-fired by the usually reliable Jodie Kenny and Neal was alert to the danger posed by the rebound.

However, there was to be no stopping a rampant Australian team and Georgia Nanscawen (45') was on hand to crash home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the circle after Kenny made a beautiful pressure-easing aerial out of defence.

New Zealand came back again through captain Anita Punt (48'), who played on despite a foot injury. She fired home a drag flick penalty corner into the top corner of the goal.

Sally Rutherford kept the Black Sticks in the game with two great saves – one from a penalty corner, the other from open play, while Wells also performed acrobatics to deny a third New Zealand goal.

"We made it really hard on ourselves by conceding two goals so early," said Black Sticks Olivia Merry. "Although we competed well in second part of the game, you can't give Australia a 3-0 lead and hope to chase that down."

"We were so disappointed with our performance against the Netherlands," said Emily Smith. "We wanted to show what we are capable of. We know between now and Rio that we need to find innovative ways to beat the Netherlands and we need to improve our physicality so we stop them getting players behind us."

Goals

Team	Minute	Shirt #	Player	Action	Score
AUS	3	26	SMITH Emily	FG	1 - 0
AUS	4	18	CLAXTON Jane	FG	2 - 0
AUS	15	24	WILLIAMS Mariah	FG	3 - 0
NZL	34	31	MICHELSEN Stacey	FG	3 - 1
AUS	45	2	NANSCAWEN Georgia	FG	4 - 1
NZL	48	32	PUNT Anita	PC	4 - 2

Cards

Team	Minute	Shirt #	Player	Type
NZL	43	6	WEBSTER Petrea	G
NZL	53	18	PEARCE Kirsten	G
AUS	54	19	PARKER Georgie	G

AUS

Minute	Shirt #	Name	Goals	Green
3	2	NANSCAWEN Georgia	1
3	3	PERIS Brooke
X	4	EASTHAM Casey
X	5	WELLS Ashlee
2	6	DWYER Kirstin
X	7	KENNY Jodie
5	8	NELSON Ashleigh
X	9	FLANAGAN Anna
X	11	McMAHON Karri
X	12	BLYTH Madonna
X	13	BONE Edwina
3	18	CLAXTON Jane	1
X	19	PARKER Georgie		1
X	20	SLATTERY Kathryn
X	24	WILLIAMS Mariah	1
X	26	SMITH Emily	1
Bench	27	LYNCH Rachael
3	29	ATTARD Teneal
		Assistant Coach	VICTORY Craig
		Head Coach	COMMENS Adam
		Stand-In Manager	STARRE Kate
		Physiotherapist	COOKE Jennifer
		Medical Doctor	RECHICHI Claire (Dr)
		Medical Doctor	CLAYDON Gary
		Team Manager	DAVIES Stephen

NZL

Minute	Shirt #	Name	Goals	Green
X	4	MERRY Olivia
2	6	WEBSTER Petrea		1
30	7	ROBERTS Ani
X	8	RUTHERFORD Sally
X	9	NEAL Brooke
Bench	10	GIBSON Amelia
X	12	GUNSON Ella
X	13	CHARLTON Samantha
3	15	KING Julia
X	16	THOMPSON Liz
X	17	COCKS Sophie
X	18	PEARCE Kirsten		1
X	22	FLYNN Gemma
3	24	KEDDELL Rose
3	26	HAYWARD Pippa
3	27	GRANT Jordan
X	31	MICHELSEN Stacey	1
X	32	PUNT Anita	1
		Team Manager	BALME Debbie
		Head Coach	HAGER Mark
		Assistant Coach	DANCER Sean
		Physiotherapist	MEYER Jessica
		Stand-In Manager	MENEZES Jude

DNP = Did not participate
S = Suspended
DSQ = Disqualified

Match Officials

Role	Official
Umpire 1	WILSON Sarah
Umpire 2	ADENOT Claire
Reserve Umpire	KANG Hyun Young
Video Umpire	ROSTRON Annelize
Judge 1	McKAY Iain
Judge 2	WARRIS Rogier
Technical Officer	DECKENBROCK Christian