Commonwealth Games 2022 Hockey: Australia Kookaburras v India live score, result, medal tally
It was a bloodbath in Birmingham, Australia claiming its seventh straight Commonwealth Games men’s hockey gold with a lethal, clinical display that gave India no hope. RECAP OUR LIVE BLOG
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They’re the Commonwealth Games juggernaut that simply cannot be stopped.
For the seventh time from seven attempts, the Kookaburras are men’s hockey champions, and perhaps never before have they been so dominant.
In a match that was over at half-time, if not 15 minutes earlier, Australia humiliated rivals India 7-0 in one of the most one-sided Games finals in history – with only a late goal, controversially scratched off, denying them the chance to match the 8-0 demolition of India in Delhi 12 years ago.
SCROLL DOWN TO RELIVE EVERY GOAL AND BIG MOMENT OF THE STUNNING DEMOLITION
“It’s a great dynasty. We’re really proud of the history we have,” said captain Aran Zalewski.
“Every team that comes is a different team (but) we know we have to come out and perform. We enjoy it and we pride ourselves on performing well here.”
Enjoy it, they most certainly did.
From the moment Blake Govers buried a penalty corner to start the rout in the ninth minute, to Flynn Ogilvie’s effort 14 minutes from fulltime which completed the seven-goal hit job, this was Heavy Metal Hockey at its finest.
Scoring in all four quarters, Australia had five individual goalscorers, with Jacob Anderson and Nathan Ephraums grabbing doubles and Tom Wickham, Govers, and Ogilvie all on the scoresheet.
But there was none better than the beautiful team hockey, punctuated by a delightful one-two between Daniel Beale and Josh Beltz which led to an Ogilvie strike and then a simple tap-in from Ephraums for Australia’s second.
It was champagne stuff from a team that has been unstoppable all fortnight in Birmingham.
“We had to show some resilience (this tournament). It doesn’t always go your way,” said Zalewski.
“And then today you come out and have a performance like that and it is really clinical and falls into place.”
The win is the fourth for Australian great Eddie Ockenden – matching the incredible feats of the legendary Mark Knowles.
“I’m really proud to have that and it’s a huge part of our history, but it’s not about my fourth, it’s about the team now winning the gold medal,” said 35-year-old Ockenden.
“(Knowles) was a role model for me before I was in the team and then someone I looked up to and became good mates with.
“I’ll try and keep going, make the squad (for the Paris Olympics in 2024). I’m feeling really good and fit.”
And what about a tilt at a record fifth Commonwealth gold, in Victoria in four years?
“It’s in Victoria, in Geelong, and I’m a big Cats man… so it’d be nice,” he adds with a grin.
Across their seven finals wins, Australia has an aggregate score of 33-2 – and highlighting their dominance, they’ve not conceded a single goal in finals in two decades.
“We love the history and know it’s there but it’s irrelevant when you get to a tournament,” added Ockenden.
“We believe we can win a tournament every time we go to one and that’s a special place to be.”
Incredibly, considering the scoreline, keeper PR Sreejesh was arguably India’s best player – making seven saves in playing a lone land behind a defensive line that was as porous as Australia had encountered this tournament.
It brings Australia’s overall gold tally for the Birmingham Games to a stunning 67 – and 1001st in history.
At 35, no one is ruling out Ockenden competing for a record fifth at the Victorian Games in four years – he looks like he could play for another decade.
Highlighting the dominance of this squad, they’ve not conceded a single goal in a final letting two in against New Zealand in Manchester two decades ago.
Incredibly, considering the scoreline, keeper PR Sreejesh was arguably India’s best player – making seven saves in playing a lone land behind a defensive line that was as porous as Australia had encountered this tournament.
It brings Australia’s gold tally for the Birmingham Games to a stunning 67 – and a 1001st in history.
GAME OVER!
Australia wins.
That’s seven straight Commonwealth Games men’s hockey gold medals for Australia.
It should have been an record-equalling eight goal margin, but Tom Wickham’s finish came with a kiss from the back of his stick — smart video referral from India, but it mattered little.
The Kookaburras are the champs.
AUS 7-0 IND — Ogilvie, 46’
Australia and India have played each other 126 times, the Kookaburras winning 84 of those, India 22 and the rest were draws. Australia has won 8-0 twice.
They need one more to equal that — and two to break the record — after Flynn Ogilvie became the fifth scorer in the game, buttering up at the back post. The Aussies have subbed off gun keeper Andrew Charter, giving back up Johan Durst a chance to play in the gold-medal game.
THREE-QUARTER TIME — AUS 6-0 IND
What more can you say about this Kookaburras outfit?
They are an unstoppable force today and Olympic bronze medallists India have barely been in the contest since Blake Govers opened the scoring in the ninth minute.
The only surprise of the day is that it took quite that long to get on the scoreboard. Because since then, it’s been one-way traffic – with Australia well and truly threatening the Games 8-0 record final-winning margin.
Australia added one goal in the third quarter, but it was an absolute peach.
Nathan Ephraums grabbed his double with an outrageous backstick deflection to bamboozle Indian keeper PR Sreejesh.
The woe has been compounded with captain Manpreet remaining of the field after a second-quarter blow to the neck and shoulder.
AUS 6-0 IND — Ephraums, 42’
That is insane.
Flynn Ogilvie has used the reverse tomahawk to inject the ball into the attacking circle and Nathan Ephraums has one touched it — on the reverse — to kiss it past the keeper and make it six.
The Indians have actually been a lot better in the lead up, but one piece of brilliance has undone them.
The Aussie record Comm Games score is 8-0 — it’s in massive danger.
They need a mercy rule in hockey …
HALFTIME — AUS 5-0 IND
This is fast turning into a bloodbath at the University of Birmingham.
Australia is running riot and may soon threaten its own record winning margin of 8-0 from the 2010 games, where it demolished India.
The Kookaburras are more than halfway there at halftime, with Tom Wickham and Jacob Anderson, who grabbed two, adding second-quarter goals as the lead blew out to five.
The juggernaut simply cannot be stopped at this point, with Anderson feasting on the scraps after another blistering penalty corner save from PR Sreejesh.
In the shadows of halftime, Wickham nutmegged the keeper when he deflected a Tim Brand pass into the goal, and when Anderson had his second – via a delightful backstick shot – 90 seconds later, the rout was officially on.
Making matters even worse for India, captain Manpreet Singh came off with a shoulder complaint after colliding with Australia’s Aaron Zalewski.
AUS 5-0 IND — Anderson, 27’
We’re under half an hour in and it’s five — Jacob Anderson has two after some clinical stuff in the D. He was wide open, though. The Indian defending has left a lot to be desired, putting PR Sreejesh constantly under the pump in goals. The gold is Australia’s. There’s no coming back from here.
AUS 4-0 IND — Wickham, 26’
Tom Wickham has deflected one in, there’s been an injury to Indian captain Manpreet Singh after he came off second best in a clash with wiry Aaron Zalewski’s elbow — to his throat.
And now we’re all confused.
The Indians had a green card, to Nilakanta Sharma, meaning there was only 10 on the field. Then they made a sub, with Manpreet returning to the field, sparking concern they had too many.
Not according to the umpires.
“There’s not an extra player on the pitch — all it is is the injured player — they’ve just swapped that, come on, come off,” one umpire said.
“All it was was a player subbing on and subbing off.”
There are protests from the Kookaburras, but they fall on deaf ears.
AUS 3-0 IND — Anderson, 23’
It’s 3-0, but PR Sreejesh is actually having a good game in goals. The Aussies are absolutely peppering his goal and the save off the penalty corner is classy, but not classy enough to stop Jacob Anderson from tapping home after the butter up.
QUARTER-TIME — AUS 2-0 IND
In a dream start for Australia’s quest for perfection, the Kookaburras lead 2-0 at quarter-time after a sensational 15 minutes to open their final.
Goals through Blake Govers and Nathan Ephraums have given Australia some early breathing room, despite an impressive performance from Indian keeper PR Sreejesh.
India saved two penalty corners before Govers drilled home an unstoppable effort, but it was Australia’s second goal that left the crowd in awe.
Daniel Beale and Josh Beltz played a classy one-two down the right flank before Flynn Ogilvie smashed a chance goalbound – before it bounced up for a simple tap home by Ephraums.
AUS 2-0 IND — Ephraums, 14’
End-to-end stuff and the Kookas have shown just how devastating they can be on the counter. The ball pinged all over the place down the right hand side and ended with Nathan Ephraums kissing it in, standing unmarked behind the goalkeeper. Danger signs for India here — but they were probably there before the game started.
AUS 1-0 IND — Govers, 9’
Australia has dominated the opening minutes and have struck first through penalty corner king Blake Govers.
It’s a low rocket drag flick that Sreejesh does well to get a piece of, but it rolls over the line, despite the Indian goalkeeper’s desperation.
Heavy metal hockey: Aussies out to protect insane record
Australia bashed, crashed and smashed their way into the gold medal match – but it hasn’t always been like this.
With 29 goals through their undefeated pool stage, and a gripping 3-2 win over England in Saturday’s semi-final, the Kookaburras have established themselves as not only one of the most feared teams on the planet – but the most exciting.
Australia have won men’s gold at every Commonwealth Games since hockey was introduced at Kuala Lumpur in 1998, a tradition they want to continue in Monday’s final (9.30pm AEST) against India.
Don’t be fooled, though. The Birmingham 2022 edition is a different beast.
To borrow a phrase from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, they are Heavy Metal Hockey.
Klopp coined the moniker Full Metal Football for his attack-minded Reds, who embraced the German gegenpress and turned it into an all-out offensive that demanded goals above all else.
“Just wave after wave after wave … If the first three doesn’t get it, the next three will and you just keep rolling around,” explains Kookaburras assistant, and mad Liverpool fan, Anthony Potter to News Corp.
Australia isn’t specifically inspired by Klopp, but their methodologies – including a vibrant, counterattacking style that delivers an electric attacking style – remains true.
“It sounds similar to us. Heavy metal hockey? I like the sound of that,” Australia’s Jake Whetton, owner of two goals in this tournament, tells News Corp.
ON THE ATTACK
The commitment to holistic attacking approach isn’t something that has come spontaneously. It’s the product of a five-year strategy from the Kookaburras’ three-pronged coaching staff. And while it is Potter who looks after the ‘with ball’ nature of their play, fellow assistant Rob Hammond’s focus is on what the Kookaburras do without the ball – specifically, how to get it back. And head coach Colin Batch who oversees everything, while writing up Plans A, B, C and D.
And Potter can also see the similarities, pointing not only to Liverpool’s team-wide cultural buy-in, but their adaptability in addition to their dedication to playing attacking football.
“If you can’t defend, we can’t attack because we don’t have the ball. So we defend well,” Potter explains.
“What we’ve done over five years, we’ve developed many ways of playing. When we all started, we said, ‘this is our vision to be a great hockey team – what do you think?’ ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’
“So the next question from us to the group was, ‘well, we need to upskill you to play different ways’. And then there was silence because the players are thinking ‘but we’re ranked two in the world. We’re pretty good!’
“Well, no. Because we think you can be better. A lot better.
“Because (at the time) we played with a lot of power and a lot of passion, but you play one way. And we wanted to play five or six ways in the moment.”
It was on full display against England in a tense semi-final win, in which Australia fell behind 2-0 early only to recover to snatch the winner with just 10 minutes to play.
“We were fighting tooth and nail … we didn’t play our best but you can win ugly as well and that’s a good sign for us,” said striker Blake Govers.
Originally published as Commonwealth Games 2022: Men’s Hockey final, Australia v India, start time, updates, scores
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