India 2 Australia ‘A’ 0

PERTH (Australia), May 28: Australia whipped Pakistan 3-0 here Wednesday night in the opening clash of a three-nations field hockey tournament at Perth Hockey Stadium.

In a second encounter, India had too much class for an Australia A lineup, winning 2-0.

Pakistan went into their match against the Australian senior side without three star players, captain Mohammad Nadeem, penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas and left-half Mohammad Waseem, all dropped from the squad for disciplinary reasons.

The trio were axed two weeks ago after they took part in the professional league in Germany without seeking permission from the Pakistan Hockey Federation.

Australia gained the initiative early and looked sharp in patches, especially considering it was the side’s first international outing in three months.

Striker Troy Elder almost scored in the first minute and the visitors were on the back foot for most of the encounter, played in ideal conditions.

Elder created havoc in the Pakistan defence in the early stages, while the pace of Jamie Dwyer — the world’s best junior player last year — also caused trouble.

The combination helped set up a penalty shot in the 14th minute which Brent Livermore converted after sending Pakistan goalkeeper Ahmad Alam the wrong way.

It was 2-0 in the 29th minute when Elder smashed home from a penalty corner.

Nathan Eglington put the result beyond doubt in the 61st minute with a diving goal from a goalmouth scramble after a penalty corner.

Dwyer narrowly failed to add to the tally two minutes later by blazing over the bar form pointblank range with an empty net beckoning.

The Perth series is a lead-up event to August’s Champions’ Trophy contest in The Netherlands and next year’s Olympics in Athens.

India had too much poise for Australia A.

Though the Australian second-strings battled hard in the first half, the visitors opened the scoring in the 25th minute with Dilip Tirkey finishing off a penalty corner.

Australia A goalkeeper Stephen Lambert had an excellent game, deflecting many waves of Indian attacks.

But Gagan Ajit Singh tapped in for a clinching goal after excellent lead-up work in the 60th minute.—AFP