Continuing the FIH Hockey Pro League action in Christchurch, New Zealand, both the women’s and men’s teams faced off against Australia. Australia emerged victorious in both encounters, with the Hockeyroos staging a comeback in the final quarter to secure a 2-1 win, while the Kookaburras dominated the first half, scoring three goals through Joel Rintala and clinching a comfortable 3-0 victory.
In the women’s match, New Zealand began strongly, taking a deserved lead after six minutes when Olivia Shannon deflected an Olivia Merry shot from a penalty corner, lifting it over Jos Bartram. Despite succumbing to the Australian press inside their own 25 in the final minute, New Zealand was fortunate to be bailed out twice by Grace O’Hanlon, who made two outstanding saves. The hosts maintained their one-goal lead going into halftime, with neither side creating clear scoring opportunities in the second quarter.
Australia displayed better attacking prowess in the second half but were repeatedly denied by Grace O’Hanlon’s individual brilliance in the third quarter. However, they found their own moment of brilliance in the final quarter, as Maddison Brooks scored a spectacular tomahawk shot from just inside the left side of the circle, leaving Brooke Roberts, the goalkeeper for the Black Sticks in the final quarter, helpless. Australia continued to press for the winning goal and eventually found it as Abigail Wilson smashed the rebound from a close-range save by Brooks off a Schonell shot into the top of the goal, securing all three points for the Hockeyroos.
Hannah Cullum-Sanders, who received the Player of the Match award, expressed her excitement about playing against New Zealand and highlighted the significance of both goals coming from new players who scored their first international goals. She believed that this achievement would boost their confidence for future matches.
In the men’s match, Australia made a perfect start by converting an early penalty corner through Joel Rintala, giving the Kookaburras a lead within three minutes of the game. Although Australia had opportunities to add more goals in the first quarter, Dominic Dixon’s impressive goalkeeping kept the deficit at just one goal. The second quarter saw Australia continue to dominate in terms of territory and possession, frequently penetrating the Black Sticks’ circle from the right side. Rintala added two more goals, completing a first-half hat-trick in just his second game for Australia.
Both teams created numerous circle penetrations in the third quarter but failed to find the final connection, resulting in missed tap-in opportunities for both sides. New Zealand won a penalty corner with five seconds remaining in the third quarter, but Sharp made a fantastic goal-line save as a post defender, preserving Australia’s clean sheet heading into the final quarter. Rintala had a chance to score his fourth goal when Ben Staines found him in front of the goal after excellent interplay on the left wing, but Brydon’s excellent recovery tackle prevented Rintala from slotting the ball into an empty net. Two yellow cards in the final quarter for Phillips and Cohen dashed New Zealand’s hopes of a comeback, allowing Australia to comfortably see out the game.
Joel Rintala, the hat-trick hero, was awarded the Player of the Match and expressed his satisfaction with scoring goals early in his career, which proved to be the difference between the two teams. He also mentioned that their pressing game worked better in this match compared to their previous encounter against Great Britain, and they aim to continue improving on it.
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