Hockeyroos knocked out in quarter-finals by New Zealand
AUSTRALIA’S train wreck of an Olympic hockey campaign is over after the Hockeyroos meekly joined their men’s counterparts in a humbling quarter-final exit.
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AUSTRALIA’S train wreck of an Olympic hockey campaign is over after the Hockeyroos meekly joined their men’s counterparts in a humbling quarter-final exit.
So much was expected of the dominant world no. 1 men and the emerging, exciting women, who had risen to no. 3 in the world.
Yet the women’s team were downed by trans-Tasman rival New Zealand in a 4-2 defeat just 16 hours after the men were stunned 4-0 by the Netherlands.
The Hockeyroos were powerless to stop the command performance from New Zealand’s Anita McLaren, who scored two goals and set up a third.
Kathryn Slattery’s pair of goals — including a consolation goal with just 80 seconds on the clock — were Australia’s only fleeting resistance.
Not since the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles have neither of Australia’s field hockey teams failed to win at least one medal.
Yet neither of the Australian teams could curse at the hockey gods or curse their misfortune.
Instead they were both played off the park in the quarter-final stages introduced only for the Rio Olympics.
Neither would have made the straight semi-finals of the previous Olympic formats, and that form was reflected when the cutthroat rounds arrived.
The women’s side at least is a young, building team with 12 Olympic first-timers, while the Kookaburras had no excuses to crumble.
It was head coach Adam Commens’ final game as Hockeyroos coach with the former Kookaburra to move to Europe to be with his family.
The Hockeyroos actually started brightly after three wins to finish their pool rounds after a couple of early shock losses.
It took a perfectly executed penalty corner drag flick from McLaren to put the women on their heels just seven minutes into the match
She laced that flick into the top right corner with exquisite timing and thunderous speed.
Australia then missed its chance to equalise with a pair of Georgina Morgan drag flicks which were parried away by New Zealand defenders.
Then in the second corner from another penalty corner New Zealand faked a flick before captain Kayla Whitelock punched the ball towards goal.
Kelsey Smith deflected the ball past Australian goalkeeper Rachael Lynch — the Kiwis had pulled off another well-executed set play.
When Australian Slattery finally turned in an back-post slap three minutes into the third term Australia was just a goal down.
Then five minutes later it turned into a rout, as McLaren took over again.
Loose at the back post, her midair strike added the third goal before her strong shot on goal was deflected by Charlotte Harrison for a fourth.
Slattery roofed a goal with 80 seconds remaining to flatter Australia, but the damage had been done long before.
Originally published as Hockeyroos knocked out in quarter-finals by New Zealand
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