 | The Kookaburras have suffered their first defeat to Malaysia since 1994, going down 1-0 tonight in Adelaide.
The first half played out in complete contrast to last night’s 8-1 victory to the Kookaburras, with Malaysia playing a much better brand of hockey. This saw them maintain their fair share of possession throughout the midfield, while also bolstering their defensive structure.
With the Malaysians playing full of confidence and with a defensive mindset, the Kookaburras had initial difficulties in penetrating their circle.
After several minutes of fast paced hockey, it was Malaysia who emerged with the first genuine shot on goal via a penalty corner attempt. However, thanks to some good work by goalkeeper Nathan Burgers, the shot was denied and cleared from the Kookaburras defence.
Determined to regain last nights winning formula the Kookaburras lifted towards the end of the half, with striker Eli Matheson coming agonisingly close to scoring the Kookaburras first goal in his 50th match only to be denied by the Malaysian goalkeeper.
When Jivan Mohan received a yellow card at the 25 minute mark Malaysia found themselves a player short, however the Kookaburras were unable to capitalise and the match entered the half time break drawn at 0-0.
The Kookaburras appeared likely to open the scoring early in the second half after earning two penalty corners. However once again the Malaysian defence proved too strong.
The goals continued to be hard to come by throughout the second half, with both teams having chances including South Australian local Grant Schubert who was unable to finish off what appeared to be a certain goal.
Malaysia made the Kookaburras pay soon after, with Muhammad Amin Rahim converting a goal from their first penalty corner of the second half to take the lead much to the surprise of the Adelaide crowd.
The Kookaburras, desperate to force their way back into the game, stepped up a gear in a bid to at least force a draw. However despite generating some genuine opportunities, the Australians just couldn’t manage to find the back of the net.
When Malaysia received their second yellow card of the night at the 66 minute mark it appeared as though the Kookaburras had their best opportunity yet to capitalise.
When they received a penalty corner with only a minute left on the clock it loomed to be their last chance to level the score.
However following the trend of the night, the goals just didn’t flow of the Kookaburras, with a David Guest flick deflecting off the goalkeeper and into the cross bar.
Grant Schubert, in his 150th international match, said the team was obviously disappointed with the result however will look to improve.
”Obviously we didn’t get the result we were after, however we will take away more from this game that we did from last nights win. We had lots of chances but the difference between tonight’s game and last night’s is that we just couldn’t put them away,” said Schubert.
The Kookaburras will now travel to Canberra where they will take on Malaysia, Canada and Australia A with the matches beginning on Wednesday 29 July. |
