Hockeyroos close series with dominant 3-0 win over Japan on Sunday night

The Hockeyroos leave Australian soil victorious with an easy, if wasteful, win over Japan and star striker Rosie Malone says the commitment to a little experimentation now will go a long way toward success in Paris.

The Hockeyroos closed out the series with a strong win. Picture: Hockey Australia

The Hockeyroos bounced back to close out their last action on home soil before Paris with a dominant, if a little wasteful, 3-0 win over Japan.

After a barn-burning 3-2 defeat at the hands of China that sealed the Perth International Festival of Hockey, the Aussies were playing for pride and, while the persistent issues with execution out of the battery prevented it from being a blowout, the Hockeyroos were never troubled.

Star striker Rosie Malone said she was pleased to finish the tournament on a high — but Paris was still the priority.

“For us, it’s been a case of we’re trying to build each game, each tournament,” Malone said.

“We love playing at home and we love the (FIH) Pro League but, at the end of the day, it’s the team that’s performing in Paris that’s going to come home with the silverware, so that’s our big focus.”

Australia controlled play from the get-go and Claire Colwill opened the scoring late in the first with a straight-line penalty corner drag that kissed the heel of Tanaka Akio, the Japan shot-stopper filthy as the ball ricocheted through her legs and into her goal.

Throughout the first half, Japan’s defence was its own worst enemy, so often mistrapping balls onto their own feet, or throwing it into a teammate in their haste to exit. But it didn’t hurt them as Australia’s set play execution left much to be desired, able to convert just once from double-digit penalty corners.

The Hockeyroos’ battery wasn’t helped by the absence of injured rocket launcher Tatum Stewart but it just wasn’t happening for them, with Karri Somerville and Renee Taylor fluffing their lines.

Rosie Malone scored the second goal for the Hockeyroos. Picture: Hockey Australia

Malone revealed the Aussies have a few tricks up their sleeve they’re preparing to unleash in Paris.

“We’ve been trying a few different penalty corner variations and, look, obviously, leading into the Paris Olympics, you don’t want to show all your cards,” Malone said.

“So we’ve been showing a few different ones, ones that are new and ones that we’ve done for a while.

“We also have some that we’re saving, definitely.”

It was a largely uneventful third as Japan generated its best chances of the match. That head of steam was blown away, though, when Rosie Malone crept up on napping last-line Japan defender Ogawa Rika, who left Tanaka in a world of hurt as the prolific Queenslander pinched the pill, waltzed into the attacking circle and blasted it into the corner to make it 2-0 Australia.

“She just sat on the ball for a little too long and I thought ‘sweet, this is my opportunity’,” Malone said of her pick-pocketing effort.

“She probably didn’t do a quick head check and see me flying in there and (I was) just happy with the finish.

“No one else was there, I thought, ‘all right Rosie, wind her up’.

“They have a great goalkeeper who made lots of amazing saves throughout the game.”

How will the Hockeyroos go in Paris. Picture: Hockey Australia

Tassie tyro Maddie Brooks ate up her opportunity to make it 3-0 after veteran hardwoman Jane Claxton threaded an exquisite angled ball into the circle to tee up Malone, whose quick tomahawk pinged off Tanaka into the path of the teen striker.

Attacking bulldozer Amy Lawton entered with heavy strapping on her right shoulder but it had no impact on her game as the 22-year-old young vet dominated exchanges throughout the contest.

Japan’s poor tour concluded with 10 players on the field after a bizarre interchange mix-up had 12 Japanese on the field at one point, leaving captain Nagai Yuri seeing yellow.

Jocelyn Bartram celebrated her 100th international cap with a near-pressure-free outing. The Aussie No.1 shot-stopper wasn’t called into action until half way through the second quarter and, apart from a couple of hairy moments, was largely untroubled.

The Aussies went into the series without three first teamers, striker Grace Stewart and defenders Penny Squibb and Tatum Stewart all working through knee injuries, and they lost Alice Arnott in the tournament opener after she suffered a hamstring strain.

All four are expected to be fit for the Hockeyroos’ next tour of duty. They’ll have a month to recover, get healthy and finetune before a slate of eight FIH Pro League games from May 30-June 13, first against Belgium (No.5) and Argentina (No.2) in Antwerp before a trip to London to face Great Britain (combined) and Germany (No.3).

Hockeyroos escaped with a draw against China. Picture: Johan Schmidt Photography

Hockeyroos escape with hard fought draw

- Harper Sercombe

The Hockeyroos pulled off a late equaliser to escape with a hard fought 2-2 draw with China on Sunday night in the Perth International Festival of Hockey series.

The match started hot with China finding the back of the net just two minutes in.

The Hockeyroos managed to wrestle some momentum back and bring the match to a deadlock heading into the first break.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to put another away, getting two-nil up seven minutes into the second term.

It took until after halftime for the Hockeyroos to finally get on the board with Greta Hayes scoring from a penalty midway through the third.

Greta Hayes scored the first goal for the Hockeyroos. Picture: Johan Schmidt Photography

Heading into the final 15 minutes a goal down the Hockeyroos were pressing and eventually broke through thanks to Steph Kershaw who scraped the ball through China’s defence and into the back of the net.

“We definitely felt like the goal was coming and coming,” she said.

“I was pretty stoked to be able to put it in myself, but no, it was an awesome team effort.

“I think because we’ve played China so often lately, we kind of know how each other play and we’re finding ways to play around that and find our weaknesses between them and us.

“It’s an interesting little battle that we’ve got going, so I’m really excited to play them again in the final game.”

The Hockeyroos will look to remain unbeaten when they take on Australia A on Tuesday before facing off against Japan for a second time in the series on Wednesday.

Originally published as Hockeyroos close series with dominant 3-0 win over Japan on Sunday night