Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2016: Indians falter at the final hurdle against Australia
In what was a rematch of their opening fixture at the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, the Australians found themselves matched evenly by a defiant Indian outfit, today.
Unbeaten in this tournament, the Kangaroos started pressing early on in the game while the Indians held their own, defending in numbers and breaking forward at every opening they could find. Neither side could find a breakthrough in the first fifteen minutes,with the Kangaroos coming closest from a 9th-minute penalty corner which flicked off the Indian woodwork to keep the scores tied at 0-0.
Ten minutes into the 2nd quarter, the Indian defence, a resilient unit thus far, finally yielded when Thomas Craig found possession inside the D and hit it into the far corner past a hapless Akash Chikte positioned at the near post, to make it 1-0 for Australia.
In the 27th minute, Chikte was quick to react as he saw another penalty corner fly just past the right post to keep the Australians from stretching their lead to two goals.
At half-time, the Australians were up 1-0
A determined Indian side started creating more chances as the second half got underway. Nikkin Thimmaiah’s attempt and Harmanpreet’s drag-flick for India, both failed to breach the Australian fortress before goalscorer Craig hit home their second goal with a valiant dive into the far post in the 35th minute.
In an otherwise tight contest, Australia looked far superior to their opponents in a busy third quarter of the final match.
In the 4th quarter, as the Indian side’s confidence began to dwindle, it was Matthew Gohdes’ turn to put his name on the scoreboards as he netted the 3rd goal for Australia in the 42nd minute, thus marking his 150th cap for his team in perfect fashion.
With three minutes remaining in the match, it was Gohdes again, latching onto a long ball from the Aussie defence and belting it past Harjot Singh at the Indian goal before the latter could barely react. A triumphant Australian side proved their supremacy over the game once again with a 4-0 victory in the final.