Tri-nation tournament: Five-star Australia rout India

After dominating for most part of the game, Australia blanked India 5-0 in the second leg match of the tri-nation tournament.
Kieran Govers set the pace for the hosts scoring in the ninth minute off Australia’s first penalty corner. He then went on to add another goal to his and team’s kitty by hitting the last of the four goals in the first half (32nd min). In between Timothy Deavin (21st min) and Russel Ford (25th min) kept the scorer busy.

Aran Zalewski made his international debut memorable on his home turf as he scored the lone goal of the second half (57th min) for the hosts. Indians were a bit rusty and slow to begin with, while the Aussies went into the business straight away. However, the visitors fought back well in the second half when they not only defended well but also came close to scoring on a number of occasions.

“I am happy with the way we played today though I admit we should not have conceded easy goals in the first half. They played to a plan in the second half,” said chief coach Michael Nobbs.

“The second half play told how much we have improved and this is exactly the position we seek to achieve,” he added.

Meanwhile, Richard Charlesworth, his Australian counter-part, felt that the absence of Luke Doerner affected the penalty corner area.
India will take on Pakistan on Tuesday before moving to Perth to play its last match of the tour.