Eddie’s joy as Kookas turn it on for the fans
IT was the perfect homecoming for Kookaburras skipper Eddie Ockenden and fellow Tasmanians Josh Beltz and Jack Welch as they earned a 4-2 Pro League win against Germany in Hobart yesterday.
A crowd of 3200 fans witnessed an exhibition of worldclass sport with the Australians requiring two goals from Jacob Anderson to sit 2-2 with the Germans at half-time.
Tasmanian fans rose as one when Welch struck a powerful reverse-stick shot off the bottom of the crossbar that failed to cross the goal line by mere millimetres and was credited to Tom Wickham.
The result was sealed when Dylan Wotherspoon sealed victory with a penalty-corner rebound in the 48th minute. Ockenden admitted there were a few nerves, with a weight of expectation for his first match as national skipper on his home turf.
“It was a really enjoyable game to be out there, especially with Josh and Jack who performed very well,” Ockenden said. “Jack was a strong presence and got dangerous in attack and it was an amazing crowd, so I just feel proud to be representing Tasmania internationally in a sense.”
Kookaburras coach Colin Batch was pleased to see his side clinch their first victory of the Pro League in a highquality performance.
“I feel that we had a physical edge today, but it was the manner, not just the win, that was pleasing and also our second-half performance was good,” Batch said. “To handle the situation with 11 field players against us as Germany threw everything at getting back into the game, I thought we handled that well.”
Batch also liked what he saw from the Tasmanian trio, with selection tight for next weekend’s clash with Great Britain in Perth.
“Ed was our captain today and we needed a steady performance from him where he did lots of thing well behind the scenes and marked well.
“Beltz provided some good options coming out of defence, tackled well and made early decisions, while I know Welch hasn’t played many games but, to play that way in front of his home crowd, I imagine he’d walk away pretty happy.”