Kookaburras Go Down to Belgium

The Australian men’s hockey team’s winning run at the Olympic Games has come to a halt with defending champions Belgium putting on a clinic to deny the Kookaburras victory with a 6-2 win in Paris.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Australian Olympic Team (@ausolympicteam)

It was touted as a ‘revenge grudge match’ for Australia just three years after Belgium denied the Kookaburras their first gold medal in 16 years, in a heartbreaking shootout loss for the ages.

The line-up sheet resembled largely the same two teams from that final, with many players back in Paris and equally familiar with each other’s game.

One of them was Belgium’s Tom Boon and the four-time Olympian quickly ensured their side would reaffirm its status as the defending champions, in Pool B’s most anticipated match yet, with a hat-trick of goals.

The first two goals had Australia on the back foot from the first quarter with Alexander Hendrickx and Boon both delivering from the penalty corner.

NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Lachlan Sharp scored his first goal of the tournament with a sensational strike off a well-placed high ball from Flynn Ogilvie, to get the Kookaburras back in the hunt 2-1.

After the half, Belgium would charge ahead to accelerate the scoreline to 5-1, an almighty scoreline to come back as they continued to fire off penalty corners.

The Kookaburras started to wind down the deficit as fellow NSWIS athlete Blake Govers maintained his perfect goal-to-game ratio at the Games, finishing off some classy work by striker Tom Wickham but the margin was too big to chase down.

Boon bagged his third to seal the victory, leaving the Kookaburras rueing the inability to convert eight penalty corners. 

“We had more circle entries and I think we had one fewer penalty corner than they did. So really there’s a lot to like and the chances will fall and that’s what we have to go in with, that optimism because we know it’s coming,” Tom Craig reflected post-match.

“You don’t win the Olympics in the group stages and we love these competitions, playing in front of a strong hostile Belgian crowd was brilliant. That’s what the Olympics is about. 

“Fortunately, we have a couple of games to put our learnings into practice before the final stages.”

Remembering the Kookaburras 5-1 loss in Belgium two months ago, Tom said they’ve proven they can bounce back fast.

“After that match, we turned around and ended up drawing five-five in a pretty dominant encounter,” he said.

The Kookaburras have a day off before taking on New Zealand who are yet to win a match in Paris.

Match Details
Kookaburras: 2 (Lachlan Sharp 29’, Blake Govers 44’)
Belgium: 6 (Alexander Hendrickx 7’, Tom Boon 15’ & 30’ & 57’, Florent van Aubel 35’, Antoine Kina 38’)

Article courtesy of AOC