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| July 3, 2005 | Sunday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1426 |
JUNIOR WORLD CUP HOCKEY:Australia down Pakistan to top group
Monitoring Desk
KARACHI, July 2: Two late goals by Colin Hennessey and fine goalkeeping by Ben Creese gave Australia a 3-2 victory over struggling Pakistan to become pool ‘C’ winners of Junior World Cup hockey in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on Saturday.
Pakistan, who opened their campaign with unimpressive 3-1 victory over minnows Belgium and a surprise narrow 2-1 win over hockey babes Chile on Thursday, were for the first time in the competition got a taste of real competition by the Aussies.
According to information available, Pakistan forced no less than six penalty corners but could not capitalised on a single one, although they had services of a short corner expert Mohammad Imran and had more possession and better field position in the opening minutes of the game.
Surprisingly, Pakistan spearhead Shakeel Abbasi, who was hailed for his heroics in recent Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur, could not deliver this time against the Aussies as he missed several openings during the game, especially in dying moments.
Shakeel narrowly missed when his shot went high across the face of the goal following a pass from the right in the 15th minute. A minute later Shakeel was again stopped inside the circle but this time it was the Australian defence which kept him at bay.
Australia came near scoring in the 19th minute but captain Mark Knowles’ shot from the right back-line was handled by Pakistan goalkeeper Nasir Ahmad with ease.
Aussies paid heavily for slack defence which allowed Pakistanis to break the deadlock as Tariq Aziz hammered a low reverse hit from the top of the left circle to give his side a deserved lead in the 28th minute.
Australia restored parity two minutes later when Ian Smith slammed home from close range following a defensive lapse by Pakistan.
After Pakistan failed to cash-in on a penalty corner in the 31st minute, Thomas Cleghorn may have taken lead for Australia the next minute in a counter-attack minute but his shot went across the goal.
Boosted by a goal each in the first half, the two sides increased the pace after break, although Australia looked in more control over their opposition with front-runners mounting pressure. Knowles and Jonathan Charlesworth were specially working hard inside Pakistan half.
Shakeel was once again stopped in his tracks by Joel Carroll when he was streaming down the right towards the circle in the 42nd minute. Tariq had a perfect chance in the 46th minute from the top of the circle but was denied by Australia goalkeeper Creese who stopped the full-blooded drive.
Creese produced a brilliant diving save off a flick by Mohammad Imran, the short corner specialist who scored twice and once against Belgium and Chile, but could not repeat the show on Saturday.
Hennessey found the space on the right of the circle and coolly slotted home for his eight goal of the tournament after good anticipation by Ian Burcher released Australia into attack in the 50th minute.
Australia looked more in control to restrain Pakistan options through midfield and created more turnovers to give strikers a chance to mount sustained attacks.
Australia broke from the midfield and series of passes left Pakistan defenders stranded before Hennessey again popped up on the end of a sweeping movement to slam his second in the 53rd minute.
Pakistan reduced the margin just three minutes later against the run of play when Aussies defenders gave too much space and opportunity down the right flank, allowing Shakeel to find the target.
Being unmarked, Shakeel lurked deep into the Australian half as the Aussie defence put itself under pressure after conceding an unnecessary goal. Pakistan upped the momentum and Carroll just managed to stop a surging Pakistan strike force as it closed in on a goal.
Shakeel failed to deliver as his shot went wide in the 62nd minute, while Creese was on the vigil as he once again dived to thwart a Shakeel attack when the ball bobbled to the Pakistani on the left post but the goalie averted the danger two minutes from time.
In other matches of the day, Germany overcame a battling Malaysia 7-5, Blegium defeated Chile 2-0, Argentina edged past South Africa 1-0, while Spain crushed Mexico 6-0.
Pakistan, who were unbeaten before facing Australia, play against Germany in the next phase on Sunday.
Pakistan 2 Australia 3
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