Bhubaneswar: Australia put an end to France’s dream run at the Men’s Hockey World Cup by beating the World No.20 team 3-0 in their quarterfinal contest at the Kalinga Stadium here, Wednesday. Consequently, the two-time defending champions moved a step closer to the final, sealing a semifinal berth.
Australia got all their goals through penalty corners. They earned a total of five penalty corners. Jeremy Hayward (fourth), Blake Govers (19th) and Aran Zalewski (37th) converted them with ease. France could earn only one PC but failed to capitalise.
The French launched an early attack. Lockwood came to the rescue at the other end as the Aussies advanced. The Kookaburras got their first penalty corner and Jeremy Hayward converted it in the fourth minute to open their account. The French managed to advance into Aussies territories but the world’s top-ranked team got the ball back.
Hugo Genestet took a free-hit and Harvie sent the ball out and the French had a long corner. The French, who were the lowest ranked team in this edition, kept pressing and the Aussies were not troubled but were pegged back in defence though.
They got the ball back and kept pressing on French circle but Whetton failed to get a shot on goal. Australians were clearly the dominant side in the first quarter, but France had their chances also. At the end of the first quarter, the World No.1 team were up front with the scoreline reading 1-0.
The Australians continued with their attack and Whetton earned the second PC for them in the 19th minute. Glovers converted it with elan to double their lead. Forgues tried to cut in from the right, but Mitton failed to pick up a teammate at the goalmouth after a deft pass was sent in at the other end.
Australia fought back well though and got their third penalty corner in the 24th minute but French skipper Victor Charlet rushed out and denied Govers.
Forgues then entered the Aussies citadel, but Matt Dawson was just too good at the back. France had their first penalty corner in the 28th minute but messed it up as the defending champions were comfortably 2-0 ahead at the half time break, in spite of France keeping the maximum ball possession.
Australia started the second half with few vertical passes to enter the French circle, but the opposition defenders were agile enough to thwart any danger. Then there was a midfield tussle and the French resorted to back passes.
However, the Australians managed to avoid the threat and moved forward to get their fourth PC in the 37th minute. Skipper Aran Zalewski got the final deflection from a combined effort with his teammates to score the third goal for them.
In the 39th minute, the Kookaburras had another chance to score another goal, but Ogilvie failed to latch on. However, they earned their fifth PC through Daniel Beale in the 41st minute but couldn’t capitalise. Govers failed to get it right this time. The Australians were sitting pretty with a 3-0 cushion after the end of the third quarter.
The game started at a frantic pace at the start of the final quarter. Craig and Masson collide, and as a result Craig got a green card in the 48th minute. France tried desperately to reduce the margin, but just couldn’t create spaces against the mighty Aussies.
