Aussies drub it in

uthraGchaturvedi

As a rule these days, the Australians all but seal a hockey match inside the first 10 minutes, leaving their opponents to play catch-up. On Thursday, they broke that rule to allow an illusion of weakness, before regrouping with a vengeance after the first 15 minutes and going on a goalscoring spree. In the process, they registered the biggest margin of victory against India in any competition and added the Commonwealth Games title to their World Cup and Champions Trophy crowns.
An 8-0 scoreline at the end of a final match of any competition is not justified — it’s kind of unfair. But then, this Australian team under Ric Charlesworth have been so dominant, and driven, it wasn’t a level playing field, right from the begining.

And yet the hosts played out of their skins, for the initial part, at least. In theory, India knew all they had to do in order to put pressure on the world champions – dominate the proceedings, keep them from scoring, and convert half-chances. In practice, they managed the first two and nearly ticked the third box too, but for a muffed penalty corner that wasn’t stopped properly.

Then Jason Wilson found the back of the Indian net in the 19th minute to turn the game on its head. After that, a full house in 34 degree temperature, cheering the Indians on, fell silent. “The crowds were a concern in the first 15-20 minutes but we silenced them with the first goal, and then we knew the game was ours,” said midfielder Glenn Turner.

Two minutes later, Chris Ciriello made it 2-0 off a PC and after that there was no stopping the Aussies. At half time, the scoreline read 4-0, though the Indians did manage to create chances and the scoreline was not a reflection of the game on field. The second half, though, was a different affair. With nothing to lose, India had no option but to go all out in an attempt to score. They did so, but again missed chances. At the back, the defence was left open and goalkeeper Bharat Chetri, despite managing to fend off the Aussies a number of times, was often outnumbered and had no support. The result: the Aussies slammed in four more.

The aggression seen in Indian players in previous matches was absent. And while Turner said that the Indians’ body language was down after missing the first few chances, which they capitalised on, Tushar Khandker refuted it. “We played badly and we lost. It’s as simple as that. We had our chances which we didn’t take, and we made mistakes that they took advantage of. Australia are a team that converts even the half chances; there is a reason they are world number 1 and they proved it today,” Khandker said.

Even in this drubbing, however, India can take a few positives — including their first silver at the Games. It showed that the experience of Arjun Halappa and Vikram Pillay has no substitute. It also showed why Sardar Singh is rate so highly by every coach and team in the world – the defender was all over the place and managed, repeatedly, to snatch the ball from the Aussies.

And, for once, there were no lowered heads or dropped shoulders from the Indians. They had lost but it was to a far superior side, and it wasn’t for want of effort. “We have won silver, which is also for the first time. We will now look to work on our mistakes here and work on our game for the Asian Games, which are much more important,” said Halappa.