Northern Territory lose to Victorian Vikings in Australian Hockey League: 6-3
Paul McKinnon scored a couple of goals and had an assist to carry Victorian Vikings to a commanding 6-3 victory over Northern Territory (NT) in the Australian Hockey League (AHL) fixture that took place on August 10, 2011 at the Sydney Olympic Park.
With a three-goal margin, the Victorians managed bonus points in the league.
The Victorian Viking line-up was better in all sections as compared to the opponent side. The team from Northern Territory though did perform an outstanding game in the seventy minute of the play and scored three goals against the six of their rivals.
The squads of Victorian Vikings and Northern Territory seemed quite energetic at the start of the match. However, it was Victoria that drew first blood in the opening seconds and established dominance over the play. Victorian’s Tim Wischusen notched a superb
goal from the field and started the aggressive stance against NT. The defensive line of the NT side though improved their full-back line and did not allow the Victorians to double the tally until the 21st minute of the game.
Russell Ford – the skipper of the Victoria Vikings delivered a wonderful show in the game and brought all the team players into the action. He was the man who notched a goal in the 21st minute through a reverse shot at the top of the D-line. With
two goals in hand, the players from Victoria particularly the strikers increased the speed and started back-to-back attacks in search of a third goal.
Their wide-ranging effort paid off in the second last minute of the first half when Paul Mackinnon converted a short corner and stretched out the Victorian’s advantage up to three goals. Both squads went forward in the second period with Victorians holding
a three-goal edge, 3-0.
In the second set of play, the forward players from Northern Territory cranked up their offence and attacked the protective-line of Victoria. In a short span of two minutes, the NT team obtained a pair of goals which kept their hopes alive for making a comeback
into the match. Travis Carroll converted a short corner in the 41st minute of the mark while Tarrant Haami-Jones complimented his team-mate through a penalty conversion and reduced the lead down to a single goal.
However, the scenario again changed when Chris Ciriello of Victoria scored off a short corner in the 46th minute of play and again expanded the edge up to two goals. In the later time, James Webster did score a goal and reduced the chances for
NT players to make a return. In the concluding minutes, Ben Poulton of NT and Paul McKinnon of Victoria exchanged one goal. However, the Victorians won the match at 6-3.
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