Great Britain v. Australia 3-3 (first half: 0-2)
Australia and Great Britain now lead the hotly
contested group with eight points, while Pakistan sits on seven points
and Spain has four, but still has two games to play. It means the two
semi-final spots all come down to Tuesday’s preliminary round finale
when Australia takes on Pakistan and Great Britain faces Spain.
Australia took the early advantage thanks to two goals from Russell
Ford coming three minutes apart. Ford struck eight minutes in, shooting
the ball in off Great Britain goalkeeper James Fair. He followed up
with Jonty Clarke sitting for a green card getting his stick on a ball
bouncing through the D for the 2-0 lead.
The home supporters stuck with the team, letting up a
hearty roar each time the ball crossed into the Aussie zone, but the
defending World Champion had an answer to all of Great Britain’s
chances.
Mark Knowles delivered a major blow to GB's hopes five minutes into
the second half with his goal from the slot to up the Australian lead to
three goals.
But just when it looked like Great Britain was down and
out, they sparked to life when Jonty Clarke fed Christopher Ciriello
from an odd angle to get GB on the board. Six minutes later things got
interesting when the gap was closed to one after Barry Middleton
deflected in a penalty corner to make it a 3-2 affair.
The goal brought the stadium and the Great Britain team back to life
as they applied steady pressure in the Australian zone. Australia
turned it’s game plan into survival mode, buckling down and playing
defense, but when Knowles was whistled for a green card, Great Britain
took full advantage and a streaking Tindall put in the equalizer
sending the crowd and team into a frenzy.
Australia asked for a video referral on the goal, but
it was clearly denied and the teams played out the last four minutes
and closed the game in the 3-3 draw.
Australia entered the tournament looking invincible with an extremely
strong start and every recent title under the sun, but the preliminary
round action has chipped away at the armor and now they find
themselves in an unusual tight spot for the last game of the group.
(Eric Bailey)
Spain was fighting for its life in today’s game against Argentina. A win or a draw would put Spain right back into the hunt for a place in the semi-final, while a loss would leave them out in the cold. In the end, despite a surprisingly lackluster performance, Spain salvaged a 3-1 win to keep its hopes alive.
Spain sprang to life in the last five minutes of the
game, netting all three of its goals after 65 minutes of silence. Pau
Quemada kicked off the comeback with four minutes left in regulation for
Spain when he scored after a chaotic few moments in front of the net
and Miguel Delas netted the game winner a minute later to save the day
for Spain.
The icing on the cake came with 40 second left one two-on-none breakaway that Xavi Lleonart finished off to top off the win.
You would never know from the action on the field that
Spain’s Olympic medal dreams were on the line. The teams both played a
conservative game, in stark contrast to the Great Britain v. Australia
thriller directly before.
The first half was a particularly tepid affair with scoring chances
few and far between and no penalty corners awarded. It wasn’t until
Spain’s Juan Fernandez ran the ball in from midfield with four minutes
left in the half that either team had a meaningful chance to get on the
board. His effort fell short, but it at least helped to break the
lethargic funk that seemed to settle over the stadium.
The teams had more spring in their step and with 15
minutes left in the game the scoring silence was finally broken when
Argentina’s Lucas Vila marched through the slot and beat Francisco
Cortes in the low far corner for the 1-0 lead. The goal woke Spain up as
they pressured the Argentina net late in the game, and were eventually
rewarded with the barrage of goals for the win
Spain stays in the thick of things in the Group A playoff hunt with
seven points and the last preliminary round game against Great Britain,
sitting with eight points. Meanwhile Argentina will hope to avoid the 11th-place game in its final preliminary round game against South Africa.
(Eric Bailey)
Nine goals were scored in between Pakistan and South
Africa under heavy rain, with the score seesawing between the two teams.
In the end, Pakistan kept its semi-final hopes alive with a 5-4 win.
South Africa were not deterred by the rain coming down heavily on the
Riverbank Arena and a swift combination in the third minute found
Thornton Mcdade alone in the circle. He took his time to adjust a shot
to beat Imran Shah in the Pakistani goal and open the scoring. Pakistan
tried to get away from the South African pressure, mostly with long runs
by Shakeel Abbasi, but it took them 15 minutes to have their first
opportunity on goal, a penalty-corner, but Sohail Abbas’s low flick was
coolly handled by Erasmus Pieterse in the South African goal.
In the 20th minute, Abdul Haseem Khan was at the
conclusion of a decisive circle penetration by Shafqat Rasool to cap a
period of domination for Pakistan and tie the game. A flurry of scoring
suddenly ensued. South Africa regained the lead with a penalty-corner by
Justin Reid-Ross, Pakistan equalized in the next breath by Shafqat
Rasool, very active today, before taking the lead very soon after by
Abdul Haseem Khan!
South Africa forced a penalty-corner with a few seconds left on the
clock and Justin Reid-Ross made no mistake to score his second
penalty-corner of the match to tie the game at 3-3 going into the
half-time break.
In the opening minutes of second period, with rain
still pouring down heavily and spectators fleeing the stands for cover,
Wade Paton intercepted a clearance from the Pakistani goalkeeper to slam
the ball in goal and put back South Africa in the lead 4-3! Pakistan
pushed the South African defense on their heels during most of the
period, creating some excellent chances. Shakeel Abbasi had a golden
opportunity when he received a cross in front of the empty goal but the
ball bounced over his waiting stick. Just after, a shot by Shafqat
Rasool was miraculously saved by a diving Andrew Cronje.
It seemed only a matter of time for Pakistan to find the target and,
with six minutes left on the clock, they earned a penalty-corner and
this time Sohail Abbas slotted his flick in the top corner to tie the
score at 4-4, setting up an intense finish of match.
Finally, in the 67th minute, Waseem Ahmad found the
ball in a goalmouth scramble to give the lead back to Pakistan. They
managed to keep it until the end to record their second win of the
competition, while the South African were totally dejected to have let
the win slip away from their grasp, leaving them at the bottom of Pool A
with only one point.
(Yan Huckendubler)
