Bhubaneswar: Defending champions Australia retained the Men’s Hockey World League Finals (HWLF) title beating Argentina 2-1 in a scrappy encounter at the Kalinga Stadium here, Sunday. Jeremy Hayward (17th) and Blake Govers (58th) scored for the Wizards of Oz, while Agustin Bugallo (18th) kept the Los Leones in the game for a long while.
It was a scrappy match and it was apparent that players of both sides were affected by nerves. In a game between the World No.1 (Argentina) and World No. 2 (Australia), the hockey dished out was pedestrian. There were too many interruptions and fouls while defensive formations were the order for the day and in the end an opportunistic Glovers sealed the tie for Australia.
With both sides adopting a cautious approach, a clear look at the goal never happened in the first quarter. Players of the both teams tried to play possession hockey and as a result the game was a bit drab.
The second quarter, however, changed all that as two goals came in the span of a minute. First Haywards scored with a bullet drive off Australia’s first penalty corner, that gave Argentina goalie Juan Vivaldi no chance.
But barely had Australia’s celebrations died, Argentina struck. Matias Paredes fed Bugallo on the right. The forward cut into the Australian ‘D’ and scored with a powerful hit to the right-hand corner of the net.
In the last quarter both teams tried their best to break the deadlock. After both had missed a couple of chances and the game petering out to a tie-breaker, Australia struck again from the set-piece. This time Haywards did not take the shot and sold a dummy which caught the Argentine defence on the wrong foot. Govers picked up the loose ball and unleashed a uppish flick to the right of Vivaldi to seal the title for his side.
Argentina earned two penalty corners in the last few seconds. The second one was well-struck by Gonzalo Peillat, but Aussie custodian Tristan Clemons was at the right place to palm the ball away.
Awards
Best player Mats Grambusch Rs 5,00,000
Best junior Victor Wegnez (Belgium) Rs 1,00,000
Best goalkeeper Juan Vivaldi (Argentina) Rs 1,00,000
Top scorer Loic Luypaert (Belgium) Rs 1,00,000
Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra
