Kookaburras hold sway in Oceania Cup
SYDNEY: Jeremy Hayward hit two goals to help the Kookaburras defeat New Zealand 51 and book a spot in the Oceania Cup final.
Hayward converted two set pieces on Thursday night in the first and third quarters, sandwiching an opportunistic goal by Jake Whetton in Sydney.
Tom Craig made it a fourgoal lead with a longrange bomb in the final period, before Dylan Wotherspoon sealed the win late in the match.
The win came after the men’s national team opened the fiveday tournament on Wednesday with a 300 thrashing of Papua New Guinea.
Colin Batch’s players have the next two days off before a likely rematch against the Black Sticks in tomorrow afternoon’s decider.
The Kookaburras have won all nine previous Oceania Cup titles since its inception in 1999.
The home side enjoyed the best chances of a close opening quarter. Hayward’s penalty corner found woodwork and Daniel Beale forced a footsave from the Black Sticks’ goalkeeper.
But Hayward eventually broke the deadlock when he converted another set piece in the 14th minute, flinging powerfully to take a 10 lead at the first break.
A green card to Tom Wickham appeared to have turned momentum the Kiwis’ way just before halftime. However the home side doubled its advantage soon after the resumption.
Young gun Blake Govers rattled the post from the edge of the shooting circle, only for the rebound to be scooped into the top of the net by Whetton in the 34th minute.
Hayward made it a threegoal lead when he hit straight on another penalty corner in the 42nd, before Craig capped off the night with a longrange bomb.
New Zealand scored a consolation goal through Daniel Harris, but the Kookaburras had the last laugh when Wotherspoon finished off a Trent Mitton run.
Batch said Hayward had been building up his form in recent months.
‘‘He’s come a long way. He had a good world leg three with his flicking. He didn’t get a lot of opportunity in the Australian Hockey League but he did score some goals there,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s good to see him come out and good pitch to flick on, so it’s a good test. He got some results for us. It was very competitive for a long part of that game and I was pleased we were able to put together a 60minute performance. — NZN