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The World Number 1 team -- Australia -- faced England in their 2nd match of the 2018 Hockey World Cup. The Kookaburras have enjoyed a terrific year thus far and won almost everything. They were the champions of the 2018 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast as well as the 2018 Champions trophy. And now, they have got off to a flier at the World Cup with 2 wins in as many games.
The Aussies -- being the defending champions -- were always the favourites going into the match against England. Their long-standing rivals England also looked eager to get some points from the match but in the end, the defending champions were the ones who snatched the three points.
The last time Australia lost in a World Cup match was back in February 2010 when they had suffered a 2-3 defeat to England. Since then, they have won all their 13 World Cup matches and scored a whopping 54 goals in the process.
In 11 of the previous meetings between the two sides, 7 were won by Australia, 2 were won by England, and 2 ended in draws.
England were really tested by World Cup debutants China in their first encounter of the Hockey World Cup as the match ended in a 2-2 draw courtesy of a late goal by China.
Australia, on the other hand, were coming into the match off a 2-1 win against Ireland. The 10th place Ireland really tested the Aussies and showed great character.
Colin Batch and his troops lived up to the expectations as the world champions and got their second win as they defeated England 3-0. Without further ado, let us dive and see which were the 5 most interesting talking points from the game:
#5 Cautious start by both teams
Both Australia and England knew the importance of the match. Maybe that is the reason they both were extremely careful in the first quarter and the chances created were few and far between. Australia made some chances in the initial few minutes but they were only half chances.
England penetrated well down the middle towards the end of the first quarter but none of the teams came close to scoring. The first quarter just came and went as the teams tried to settle in. There were no clear-cut chances for any of the teams.
England had 6 circle penetrations and 1 shot on goal in Quarter 1 compared to The Kookaburras' 5 circle penetrations and no goals. It was surprising that the world champions had no shots on goal and it was all even stevens in the beginning.
The game really picked up tempo the 2nd quarter onwards with both teams looking more determined to find that breakthrough.
#4 Brilliance of goalkeepers Tyler Lovell and George Pinner
England's custodian, George Pinner was kept busy at all times from the 2nd quarter as the world champions found their rhythm. He made exceptional saves from two back-to-back penalty corners the Aussies got in the 20th minute of the match. The 31-year was also not afraid to come out of his line quickly to deny the Australians in the 28th minute.
Lovell made an extremely good save in the 29th minute when England had their first penalty corner. Mark Gleghorne fired in a powerful shot with a drag flick but Lovell made a spectacular save with his stick and just did enough to take the ball over the crossbar.
The English goalkeeper made a smart dive to the right to deny a goal from Australia's 3rd penalty corner in the 34th minute. He was called to action once more in the 41st minute as Jake Whetton came into a dangerous position but was dispossessed by Pinner. Any praise for both the goalkeepers would be less in the match. 2 of the 3 goals England conceded were just unstoppable from the goalkeeper's perspective.
#3 Matthew Swann's exceptional all-round performance
Two times in the first quarter itself, Matthew Swann made near goal-saving interventions. There were a couple of full-length dives as Swann put his body on the line to complete his defensive duties.
The Australian defense sat deep in general and the 29-year-old was at the heart of it. There was absolutely nothing separating the two teams in the first half. However, The Kookaburras fared far better than England in Quarter 3 and ultimately went for the kill in the 4th and final quarter.
Swann had a huge hand in the 1st and 3rd goals. He had a marvelous game overall and was involved in many of the penetrations the Aussies made.
The Perth-born player displayed great skill with his stick to go past 3 defenders and get into a good position to cross it in a dangerous position in the 56th minute. Sloan tried to intercept and got a touch off the cutback from Swann. However, Corey Weyer -- waiting at the edge of the English circle -- was quick to latch on to the ball and fired it into the right corner of the goal to secure a 3-0 win for his side.
Matthew Swann went on to get the Player of the Match award as well for his all-round performance and vital contributions at both ends.
#2 Fast breaks from England in the first half
There were many English players who had a good day on the field even as their team lost 0-3. Liam Ansell was again brilliant and always at the heart of all of England's attacks. There were some sizzling runs made by Roper. Phil Roper even hit the post in the 22nd minute as Lovell was beaten for a change.
England's circle penetrations were more down the middle while Australia's were majorly from the left. There was a lot of intent whenever England went forward. Barry Middleton of England made a few good runs and was exceptional on the field. The veteran midfielder also fulfilled his defensive duties and got a couple of good blocks in the way during the game. He was always composed on the ball.
All these players were the important cogs in the England machine. However, it failed to get the match-winning goals this time around.
The multiple chances England missed in the 2nd quarter came back to haunt them at the end of the match. It was a closely-contested match in the first 3 quarters but the Australians took it away in the 4th. Had England pushed hard enough -- as the Aussies did -- when not in possession of the ball, the scoreline would have been different.
#1 Goals in quick succession by Australia in Quarter 4
Good build-up play by The Kookaburras was witnessed at the start of the 4th quarter. Craig made a beautiful run on the right flank in the 47th minute. He found John Whetton with a fine cut back who, in turn, took the shot first time and smashed the ball into the bottom right corner. This time, even Pinner could not come to England's rescue as it was a perfect shot.
Blake Govers hit a powerful shot in the 50th minute and the ball hit the left post and crept into the goal. It was a brilliant strike and Pinner was again helpless. Trent Mitton made a darting run from the left corner and cut the ball back into a dangerous area. Govers did the rest.
These two goals really took the match away from England.
The Aussies got their third goal of the day from a splendid strike from Corey Weyer in the 56th minute and were overall clinical in their finishing.
Both Colin Batch and Danny Kerry had anticipated a close match and it was exactly that. It was a tale of quarters with fast and slow-paced quarters intermittently. In the first and 3rd quarters, not many opportunities were made by both the teams. There were a lot of turnovers during the match. Many chances were created in the 2nd and 4th quarter.
Australia came to their own in the 2nd half. The fact that England ended with the same number of shots (4) at the final whistle as they had at the end of half-time reflects how The Kookaburras became too hot to handle post the 2nd half. The Men in Yellow had 23 circle entries and 9 shots in the end -- of which three were goals.
There was a period from the 3rd to 4th quarter when England made no circle penetration in 20 minutes. The game opened up in the final quarter as the Aussies started to move the ball effortlessly. They were much more relaxed and moved fluently. Sustained pressure in the 3rd quarter was of paramount importance and their efforts ultimately yielded goals in the 4th quarter.
The Kookaburras were just clinical with their finishing. After they got the 3rd goal, Australia were happy to run the clock down and make it two wins out of two.
Head to Sportskeeda to check out the Hockey World Cup schedule for the upcoming matches
