Australia – Netherlands 2-1 aet (1-1 halftime)
Australia made it five in a row at the Champions Trophy after earning a 2-1 win against the Netherlands on home-turf in Melbourne. The five consecutive medals extends the Australian’s record at the event and re-establishes them as the men’s hockey team to beat after they missed out on gold at the Olympics. For the Dutch, the silver medal has a silver lining as it is an upgrade from their bronze finish the last two years.
Kieran Govers fired in the gold-medal winning goal 4:38 into extra time to lift the host nation to the victory.Australia made it five in a row at the Champions Trophy after earning a 2-1 win against the Netherlands on home-turf in Melbourne. The five consecutive medals extends the Australian’s record at the event and re-establishes them as the men’s hockey team to beat after they missed out on gold at the Olympics. For the Dutch, the silver medal has a silver lining as it is an upgrade from their bronze finish the last two years.
It was a meeting of two of the most experienced and
successful teams at the Champions Trophy. On one side was Australia in
their 33rd Champions Trophy appearance and with 26 medals to their
credit including four golds in their last four outings. On the other
side was the Netherlands with 21 medals in 13 appearances, earning
bronze the last two years.
The Aussies pressed hard in the first half, but fell behind early
when Sander Baart found the upper corner open on a penalty corner effort
and scored the 1-0 goal,. Australia camped out in the Dutch zone after
the goal and was rewarded for their efforts on their second penalty
corner chance of the game when Russell Ford scored on a follow-up play
after the short corner chance.
The Aussies had the chance to take the lead at the end
of the half when they were awarded a penalty stroke as time expired,
but Jaap Stockmann came up with a big save on five-time FIH Player of
the Year Jamie Dwyer to keep things even at the break. Stockmann was
named the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament, and rightfully so as his
acrobatics were a key to the Dutch success at the tournament.
Stockmann continued to wow in the second half as he was a
one-man-show through much of the 35 minutes. Australia attacked and
Stockmann stopped, and so it went through six penalty corner chances and
multiple breakaways for the 35 minutes. In the end, the Dutch were
able to hold off the Aussies in regulation and send the game to extra
time.
The win improves Australia’s record against the
Netherlands at the annual event. Australia now owns a 21-3-10 record
against the Dutch in their 34 Champions Trophy meetings.
Tournament Awards:Best Player: Shakeel Abassi (PAK)
Best Goalkeeper: Jaap Stockmann (NED)
Top Scorer: Nicholas Wilson (NZL)
Fair Play Award: The Netherlands
