Australia made to sweat for win

By Bruce Hamilton

CANBERRA, August 2 – Australia had to work hard to defeat Malaysia 1-0 in the final of the three-nations tournament here Sunday.
Chris Ciriello converted Australia’s fifth penalty corner chance in the 24th minute, flicking into the middle of the net with Malaysia’s goalkeeper Kumar Subramanian getting a touch on the ball which fell behind him into the goal.
Australia earned a total of 13 penalty corners in the match and converted only one – drawing the ire of Australia’s coach, Richard Charlesworth.
“We scored one from 13 and that is pretty appalling and is obviously an area that requires attention and is disappointing. We have to spend a lot more time on that,” Charlesworth said.
“Our defence has been better over the last few days and it is an area that is critical,” Charlesworth said.
Australia shaded Malaysia for possession and maintained a high tempo of play but with lapses of quality.
“We are still too up and down and there is not an evenness to how we play and that something we have to look after. We have to have more consistent performance from everybody,” Charlesworth concluded.
Malaysia’s high strikers Faizal Saari and Ismail Abu had quality shots on goal after midfield turnovers of possession by Australia.
Australia’s midfield and backfield contributed to Malaysia’s lightning-fast counter-attacks with slow ball-speed on passes, making it easier for Malaysia to make interceptions and attack the ball carrier.
Malaysia’s coach Beng Hai Tai was delighted his 16th ranked team was able to match it with Australia ranked second in the world.“
This is a very good result for us,” Tai said.
“The boys did very well in defence today and while we conceded too many short corners we were much more in the game with possession of the ball which is what contributed to the result today,” Tai said.
Australia A plays Canada in a practice match on Tuesday and Canada and Australia play two more tests next week on Thursday and Friday.