Dutch defeat Australia by 6-1 in Four-Nation Hockey Tournament
Roderick Weusthof lit the lamp twice and had an assist, as the men’s hockey team of Netherlands powered a heavy-margin of 6-1 win over Australia in the first fixture of the Four-Nation Hockey Tournament that took place in German city of Monchengladbach on
July 22, 2011.
It was a big shock for Aussies who lost the game in a humiliated way. Both the rivals met each other in quite aggressive way. However, it was the Dutch squad that not only destroyed the defence line of Australia, but also limited the Kookaburras’ strikers
only for a solitary goal.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Four-Nation Hockey Tournament is studded with Australia, Netherlands, Spain and the host, Germany.
The main reason behind the Australian failure was the absence of many key players. The Kookaburras contested the game against the talented Dutch squad without the services of four-time Player of the Year award holder, Jamie Dwyer, Luke Doerner, Rob Hammond,
Liam De Young, Mark Knowles, Graeme Begbie and Grant Schubert.
On the other hand, the Netherlands played the match with full strength under the leadership of Teun De Nooijer, three times Player of the year Award holder. Though the Dutch squad was also missing a couple of best players, Mink van der Weerden and Eby Kessing,
they displayed an impressive show and inaugurated the tournament with a great victory.
The match commenced after a delay of half hour owing to heavy cloud-bursts and downpours. The players from the Australian side opened the game unimpressively and did not create many hurdles for the high-profile Netherlands, which lifted the recently-concluded
Four-Nation tournament held in Dublin. Despite several efforts the strikers from Australia did not succeed to earn goals in the first half of play.
On the other side, the Dutch players unfolded the match in their usual fast and furious style and established their dominance with the ball possession in the very beginning. They scored four goals in the first thirty-five minutes of the match, while holding
the Kookaburras at bay. Both the teams moved into the second half of play with the Netherlands sitting on top by four goals, 4-0.
Interestingly, the players from Australia particularly Fergus Kavanagh, Simon Orchard and Eddie Ockenden failed to improve their game in the second half neither in the defence nor in the offence. The Netherlands obtained a couple of more goals, while the
Kookaburras could only score one goal in the period and lost the game by five goals, 6-1.
From Netherlands, Roderick Weusthof scored a couple of goals while his team-mates, Billy Baker, Rogier Hofman, Jeroen Hertzberger and Taeke Taekema, added one goal apiece in the victory. From the other side, Chris Ciriello was the only player who converted
a short-corner in the loss.
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