The fact of the matter is that Australia had done all they needed to do to get to the medal stages of the Olympic hockey tournament, barring an unlikely 8-0 defeat at the hands of Great Britain. If qualification had depended on a win, then the outcome of the match between the two old rivals would undoubtedly been different. That said, Jason Lee’s team put on an impressive display in the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium this evening.
The early encounters during the match would have given no clue as to what was to come. Australia seemed to be in cruise mode, no doubt saving themselves for Thursday’s semi finals. That did not stop Jamie Dwyer from being a constant threat throughout the 70 minutes of the match. Australia won their first penalty corner of the match in the 19th minute, but two attempts at goal came to nothing. Then a most extraordinary series of incidents in front of goal set the pulses racing. Alistair McGregor in the GB goal stopped one shot at goal, a shot from the rebound was stopped on the line by Ben Hawes, and seconds later McGregor stopped a third.
Barry Middleton’s first half performance was on a par with Dwyer’s and he posed a constant threat to the Australian back line, and could even be found tackling back in defence. With about seven minutes of the first half remaining, Middleton had a scoring chance but was closed down by Stephen Lambert in the Australian goal. But Middleton left it to the last seconds of the match to leave an indelible mark on the game. A superb cross from the left wing found Middelton, who parried the ball into the back on the net.
Five minute into the second half Australia were awarded a penalty corner. Dwyer’s first strike was stopped but Bevan George pounced on the rebound and struck the ball passed McGregor to give the Australian’s an equaliser. Five minutes later Dwyer found himself in the ‘D’ with the ball at his feet and slammed the ball home for Australia’s second. Despite the setback, GB were playing with more confidence and flair than we had seen in the previous two matches. Richard Alexander had a shot at goal miss the far post by inches. Then, two minutes after Australia had scored their second, GB were awarded a penalty corner. Lambert chose to stay upright to receive Richard Mantell’s strike, and paid the price as the ball tore along the ground and out of range of his right foot. 2-2.
With fifteen minutes of play remaining, Rob Hammond in the Australian defence failed to stop a cross by Ban Hawes cleanly, which Rob Moore gratefully swept into the goal. At 3-2 up it seemed like a fairy tale come true, but the Australians certainly did not look as if they were going to give up and roll over. The ever dangerous Dwyer had a shot go wide of the far post and a penalty corner shot that fell loose in front of the GB goal was pushed away by Richard Mantell. Australia’s equaliser in the last two minutes bore similarities to GB’s third goal. Jon Bleby tried to stop a cross from the right on the reverse, but the ball eluded him and was slotted into the net by Eddie Ockenden. The final act of the match summed up the whole 70 minutes. With about two seconds left on the clock, Dwyer collected a pass in front of goal with only McGregor to beat, but McGregor was more than a match for his shot. Brilliant play by Dwyer. Brilliant defending by GB. Final score 3-3.
The inevitable question arises – why did GB not play like this for the entire tournament? Their best performances have undoubtedly been against the two strongest teams in the pool, the Netherlands and Australia. Answers on a post card please to that question.
Great Britain now play Korea to decide the 5th place in the tournament. That match will take place on Saturday.
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