World League Round Three – semi-final
Australia – Netherlands 4-3 (h-t: 2-1)
Australia won a battle of corners to see off Rotterdam
hosts the Netherlands 4-3 to reach the final of the World League and
guarantee their ticket to the 2014 World Cup into the bargain.
It was a thriller throughout with the Aussies never able to get fully
free of a Dutch side that kept fighting their way back into the tie.
Christopher Ciriello’s second minute drag-flick initially saw a penalty
stroke awarded but it was ruled out on referral.
But the set piece expert did not have long to wait
until he opened the scoring, dragging home a low bullet past Jaap
Stockmann’s stick side. Jeroen Hertzberger levelled with a flick of his
own after Jelle Galema’s good work won the corner.
Matt Gohdes, though, gave Australia the half-time lead with a superb
effort, ghosting down the right baseline, flipping the ball onto his
reverse before sliding the ball under the goalkeeper.
The second equaliser owed more to brute force than
finesse as Billy Bakker roofed a brilliantly powerful backhand shot.
From 2-2, the game reverted back to a corner shoot-out as Russell Ford
got a touch to Kieran Govers low flick to restore his side’s lead for a
third time.
Crucially, Govers’ heavily deflected flick with 14 minutes left put
Australia two ahead for the first time and while Rogier Hofman did get
one back from the injector spot, the Dutch could not find another goal.
It means Australia will play Belgium in Sunday’s final
while the Netherlands are into the third place playoff against New
Zealand.
