Hero Hockey World League Finals 2015: Australia defeat Belgium 1-0

The veteran Dwyer scored Australia’s lone goal

A solitary goal from Australia veteran Jamie Dwyer was enough for the top-ranked Kookaburras to defeat Pool A opponents Belgium on Day 2 of the Hero Hockey World League Final 2015 in Raipur, India.

The 36-year-old five-time FIH Player of the Year fired home from a tight angle in the 22nd minute to give the Aussies victory in a rematch of the first place match from the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Antwerp earlier this year.

Although Australia also had two strikes overturned, the Belgians gave an excellent showing of themselves and could easily have taken something from the game if they had made the most of their chances.

Speaking after the match, Australia striker Keiran Govers said: "It was a hard running, physical sort of game. It is always a good challenge to start off with Belgium, and we always have very close games with them. It was a scrappy 1-0 win, but we will look at the video, see what we need to improve on and look forward to taking on Great Britain tomorrow."

Despite defeat, Belgium captain John-John Dohmen saw plenty of positives in his side’s performance. "I feel really good about the game, to be honest. It was our best performance in maybe the last 10 matches, so we can be happy with the way we played. We didn’t win even though we had enough chances to score, but Australia are maybe a bit more efficient. I think it was good game to watch, so it is a pity that there was only one goal."

Hero Man of the Match: Matt Gohdes (AUS)