Austria edge past Czech Republic by 4-3 in Champions Challenge II
Alexander Bele scored two goals and had an assist, as Austria powered a 4-3 win over Czech Republic in the second game of the Pool A of the FIH Champions Challenge II that took place in Lillie, France on July 03, 2011.
After losing the opening game in the hands of China, it was a great comeback from Austrians who played a confident game throughout the two halves. The triumph gave them a hope to make a return into the game. Interestingly, the Czech Republic came into
the field with a win in hands. They had cruised past USA in the Day-1 of the game by a single goal, 3-2.
Austria and Czech Republic entered into the field for the same quest, but with different strategies. The former one wanted to earn their first victory in the game, while the latter wanted to continue their winning-streak.
The strikers from the two teams were in action in the early minutes of the first half. However, it was Czech Republic that made more penetrations into the defensive circle of Austria. The Czechs dominated the field with the ball possession and their
efforts bore fruit in the 8th minute of the match. David Vacek managed to take the ball at the top of the circle and sent it into the net, giving Philippe Thiltges no chance to block the shot.
However, the opening goal of the match was enough to awake the sleeping strikers of Austria. They started their efforts after conceding the first goal and carried out back-and-forth attacks against Czechs. In the 16th minute
of the match, the Austrian side earned a short-corner and decided to test the experienced drag-flicker, Michael Korper. He did not disappoint the Austrians and tied the knots at 1-1 with an outstanding penalty conversion.
Following the tie-up, both the sides adopted aggressive style of play. However, neither Austria nor Czech Republic succeeded to get the tie-breaker in the remaining minutes of the first half. The hockey-action in the first 35 minutes winded up at one-all.
With 11 minutes into the second half of play, Alexander Bele scored a goal from the field and increased the lead for Austria. But the joy was short-lived, as Vacek scored his second goal of the day and had it all even at 2-2.
The game entered in an aggressive phase, where Georg Jelinek and Bele scored one goal each in the 63rd and 67th minutes respectively, and regained a two-goal advantage, 4-2 for Austria. On the other hand,
the Czechs were not ready to give up. They received a penalty-corner in the last 30 seconds which was converted by Tomas Prochazka, but to no avail. They lost the game by 4-3.
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