June 24, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 27, 1427

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KUALA LUMPUR, June 23: A late penalty corner goal gave the Netherlands a 1-0 victory over India on Friday and set them up for a showdown against Australia in the finals of the 15th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

The Australians, ranked number one in the world, played one of their best matches in the tournament to defeat New Zealand 6-0 in the other semifinals at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Sunday's finals will be the first time the Dutch and the Australians have met since the 2005 Champions Trophy in Chennai when the Olympic champions walked off with a 3-1 win.

The India-Netherlands match was a cautious affair as both teams defended well and the attacks were few and far between.

India had the better chances at goal in the first half but forwards Gagan Ajit Singh, Shivender Singh and Rqajpal Singh missed some good opportunities to score.

And in the second half Nhari Prasad and Tushar Khandjar missed their opportunities in front of the goal.

In contrast the Dutch had trouble getting good chances and it was their ability to win three penalty corners later in the match that did the trick.

The goal came in the 64th minute off their second penalty corner. It was taken by Roderick Weusthof and his direct flick had goalkeeper Adrian De Souza well beaten.

The Dutch had another penalty corner a minute later but that went wide. The Indians despite having better control of the match failed to capitalise on it and in the end were bundled out of the final.

Netherlands coach Roelant Oltmans said they had no choice but to play defensively since they had played a game the day before and were a little tired.

“We knew that India will be handful and they are playing much better in this tournament. For me, the objective was to see that my players played to the structure and improved with each game.

“I am extremely pleased that we finally managed to score a goal from the penalty corner after three matches. It did not come from our top flicker (Taeke Taekema) but the second striker. That was good and it was a well taken flick.

“So the win is a pleasant surprise considering we started off badly in the tournament,” he said.

India coach V. Bhaskaran lamented the missed chances.

“I think I have said it many times that teams who dominate a match must translate that in to a win. That was our story yesterday.

“We have good chances and in the second half control of the match. But one silly mistake gave away the goal and that was the end.

“We must learn from it and improve. These are not new things but the players must know when to attack and when to hold back. These are crucial aspects of a game.”

In the second semifinal, the Australians were in no mood to be charitable as they whipped the Kiwis 7-1.

In the first half they raced to a 3-0 lead by the 22nd minute.

Grant Schubert scored in the seventh minute and Luke Doerner scored from the penalty corner set piece move in the 21st nd 22nd minutes.

Two minutes into the second half Matt Naylor was on target with a field goal and Schubert added his second in the 49th minute, Brooks was on target in the 56th minute and Butler tally four minutes later.

Petherick scored the solitary goal for New Zealand.—AFP