World Champs Day 3

Day 3 Round 2

Today was big Friday and for the Australian Men it was a huge day. The day started off poorly with rain, cold and wind but the Men didn’t let it bother them and set about working through the day’s games. First up the men were playing Belgium. The Belgians are big and strong and love to play a physical game manning up on their opponent. The Aussies were prepared for this and knew they had to play a rock solid defence. The Belgians started the scoring by nailing a back door drive that snuck past the defence. The Australians didn’t let that shake them and attacked as soon as they could and by half time the score line was 2-1 in favour of the Men. The second half was to be a passionate game with both sides desperate to win. The Belgians attacked ferociously and managed to milk a foul inside the six metre area. They converted the shot and made the score 3-2. The Men kept their composure and attacked back and were able to score (4-2). Again the Belgians attacked and attacked and once again drew a foul for a free shot. After some jostling for position the Belgians converted making the score 4-3. Again the Aussies kept their cool and continued to attack using up the full minute of the shot clock. The Belgians began to push hard in their defence knowing they had to win in this round. The Australians made the most of mistakes and scored twice more making the final score 6-3.

The next game for the day was another important game against Italy – a long term nemesis for the Australian Men. This was to be a passionate and emotional game for both sides, especially for the Italians who drew their first game for the day. The Italians won the first charge start and moved in to attack but a poor shot turned the ball over to the Australians who quickly moved to attack. The Australians worked the ball around and converted a shot making it 1-0. The Italians responded shortly after making it 1-1. The Australians and Italians took it in turns to attack until the Australians scored again making the score 2-1 at half time. In The second half the Australians won the charge start and attacked but the Italians recovered the ball and attacked back. After being fouled the Italians received a free shot and converted making the score 2-2. The Australians again attacked and worked for a good shot but the Italians again recovered the ball and tried a fast break which was shut down by the Australians. The Italians still had the ball and attacked for most of their minute until another foul was paid against the Aussie zone. The Italian moved in to take the shot but dumped the ball to a team mate who slipped past the defence and he converted making the score 2-3. The Australians kept their cool and kept attacking looking for an opportunity when the Italians made a professional foul on an Australian who was shooting giving away a penalty shot. The shot was taken and the score was now 3-3. There were only about 3 minutes to go and the Australians again recovered the ball from the Italians. The Aussies wanted the win but kept their cool and carefully attacked slowly winding down the clock each minute. The last minute of the game began to wind down as the Australians set up their last attack. In the last 10 seconds the outside players drove and after 2 quick passes Josh Holmes shot and scored! The Italians had 3 seconds on the clock and couldn’t make a great shot meaning the Aussies had now won both their games and had 6 points placing them on equal first in their group. Saturday’s games see the Men facing Sweden, Netherlands and Switzerland. The Men need to continue to win to ensure they finish in the top two of their group guaranteeing a place in the Semi Finals. Thanks to everyone for their support and messages.