World Championships Day Two

Round One Day Two

The second day of competition and the weather has turned. The day started cloudy and cool however the wind has picked up and on a regatta course that means it will blow up and down – meaning there will be heavy wind blowing one way on the pitch. Despite the weather the Men had 3 games to play in their first group round to determine which group they will go into for the second round. The first game for the day was against the French – the current World Champions. The men started strongly with the wind on their backs and won the charge start. After attacking briefly the French regained the ball and the Men played a strong defence. This was the theme of the first half with both sides strongly defending then attacking. The Australians drew first blood with a good goal to Anton Holmes from a low drive. The French then attacked but the Aussies were able to hold them off and regain the ball. However after a few minutes the French were able to break through the Australian defence and scored their first. The Australians again attacked but with about a minute before half time the ball turned over and the French regained the ball and attacked. With about 20 seconds to go the French saw an opportunity and despite some scrambling defence the French scored. The half time score was 2-1 as the Australians again won the ball in the second charge start. This half the men were defending into the wind and it’s effect on defence was soon seen with the French scoring 3 longer shots from outside of the top of the zone. The scoreline was now 5-1 but the men rallied again attacking the French and gained a breakthrough for a goal by Matt Moore. With only a few minutes to go in the game the Men kept attacking and trying to score but the French managed to convert once more making the scoreline 6-2 for the end of the game.

The next game was against Great Britain and would be the most important game of the round for the Australians. The winner of this game would most likely finish second in the group and thus go into the slightly lesser group of death in round two. Even though the men didn’t win the start they worked hard and soon had a goal for their efforts. GB responded soon after and again the men attacked. At half time the score was 3-1 in favour of the Australians. The second half started favourably for the British again as they won the charge start. They attacked and after a minute had their second goal. The Aussies attacked back but turned the ball over and fouled GB in the zone giving them a free shot which they converted. The score was now 3-3. The Aussies again attacked a scored another goal but during the GB counter-attack a GB player was fouled inside the zone and the referee awarded a 6m penalty shot which GB scored. The score was now 4-4 with minutes to go in the game. GB needed the win more than Australia so they pressed (man-on-man) and the Australians controlled the ball. Stephen Hubbard received the ball in front of the goals, was pushed over and then rolled up and scored taking the game to 5-4. The Australians defended the last 30 seconds and won the game. In the final game for the day the Australians were playing Russia. The Men played a tough strong zone and picked off the Russian passes as they attacked. The half time score was 6-0. During the second half the men again played a solid defence although the Russians scored a good goal from the top of the zone. The final result was 10-1 to the Australians who now progress second in their first group. The round two group for Australia includes Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, and Switzerland.