BHUBANESWAR: Last edition champions Australia secured a consolation bronze medal after mauling England 8-1 at the men’s hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday.
Tom Craig (9th, 19th, 34th minute) scored a hat-trick while Jeremy Hayward (57th, 60th) struck twice for Australia in the bronze medal play-off. Blake Govers (8th), Trent Mitton (32nd) and Tim Brand (34th) were the other goal getters for Australia. World number 7 England’s lone goal in the lop-sided match came from the stick of Barry Middleton in the 45th minute.
This was Australia’s fifth bronze medal in the history of the tournament. The last time the Kookaburras had to be satisfied with a third-place finish was way back in 1994 in front of their home crowd in Sydney.
The two teams met in the pool stage earlier in the tournament with Australia winning 3-0. The victory also enabled Australia to further increase their head-to-head record against England. The two sides have faced each other 28 times earlier with Australia winning 21 matches as against four by England while the remaining games ended in draws. After sitting back in the initial minutes, Australia secured their first penalty corner in the sixth minute but Govers’ flick was deflected well over the post. However, it did not take long for Govers to register his name in the scoresheet.
He scored his seventh goal of the tournament with a reverse hit after receiving a through ball. A minute later, the Kookaburras doubled their lead when Craig scored from close range with a rebound from Brand’s pass after his initial try was saved by England goalkeeper Harry Gibson. Australia keeper Tyler Lovell then made a good block to deny Liam Ansell from close quarters. Australia made the scoreline 3-0 in their favour four minutes into the second quarter through another fine field goal by Craig, following a brilliant link-up play with Jake Harvie and Govers.
Australia near the closing hours of the game secured back-to-back penalty corners in the final minute, the second of which was converted by Hayward to seal a convincing win. (PTI)
