The Hockeyroos and Mariah Williams have as soon as once more claimed a late fourth quarter victory in opposition to Japan in a close to mirror picture of the 2 aspect’s tense final assembly on the 2022 World Cup.
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A sunbathed Perth Hockey Stadium performed host to an thrilling first matchday of the Perth Worldwide Competition of Hockey Ladies’s Sequence, as wins for China and the Hockeyroos allowed them to take positions on the high of the sequence ladder forward of their Sunday matchup.
Within the curtain raiser, a Chinese language aspect that has gone from 14th to eighth on the earth within the final 2 years dominated Australia A in a 5-1 victory.
However the pinnacle of the night was the function match between the Hockeyroos and Japan, who had not met because the Hockeyroos’ last-minute victory within the 2022 Ladies’s World Cup.
Japan had been fast out of the gates. After launching with a frenetic tempo, they saved possession for a lot of the opening stanza, forcing the Hockeyroos to camp of their defensive half and limiting them to a single circle entry within the first ten minutes of play.
The stability appeared to swing again in the direction of the top of the primary quarter, and the Perth crowd had been celebrating as a pushed cross from Bec Greiner was deflected into the online just for the umpire to rule that it had come off a Japanese stick.
Each keepers allowed the stalemate to proceed into the second quarter, as a response save from Aleisha Energy was adopted by knowledgeable glove work from Japan’s Akio Tanaka throughout a quadruple Penalty Nook barrage that didn’t reap reward for the Hockeyroos.
Participant of the Match Steph Kershaw remained a continuing menace, along with her third quarter intercept and cracking lengthy shot eliciting groans from a vocal Perth crowd because it sailed simply previous the put up.
Japan ended the match underneath siege, because the Australian aspect streamed ahead searching for a break via objective which didn’t come till the ultimate minute of the match.
A decided Mariah Williams claimed possession from a sort out on the sting of the circle, regarded up, and ripped a forceful shot that the Japanese keeper had little hope of holding out.
This finalised a 1 – 0 victory to the Hockeyroos, and a tough blow to a buoyant Japanese aspect who’ve cause to be optimistic heading into the rest of the sequence.
“We knew we had been in it collectively all through the entire recreation and ending off proper in the final minute is a mirrored image of us doing simply that,” NSW’s Greta Hayes mentioned post-match
“I used to be so excited to be again out there, it’s been a very long time.”
“Having China and Japan come out right here for this sequence is actually nice for our preparation to be taking part in in opposition to such prime quality groups who are all in that similar build-up part within the lead-up to the Olympics.”
All eyes now flip to Sunday’s fixtures, with Australia A set to tackle Japan at 2:30pm AWST, and the Hockeyroos to play host to China within the function match starting from 4:30pm AWST/6:30PM AEST.
You possibly can see the complete Perth Worldwide Competition of Hockey schedule right here.
All function matches will likely be streamed reside and free on 7Plus.
Match Particulars
Hockeyroos: 1 (Mariah Williams 60′)
Japan: 0
At Perth Hockey Stadium
Hockeyroos: 1. Claire Colwill, 2. Rosie Malone, 3. Brooke Peris, 4. Amy Lawton, 5. Grace Younger, 7. Aleisha Energy (gk), 8. Maddison Brooks, 11. Alice Arnott, 12. Greta Hayes, 13. Hattie Shand, 14. Stephanie Kershaw, 15. Kaitlin Nobbs, 17. Lucy Sharman, 18. Jane Claxton (c), 19. Jocelyn Bartam (gk), 20. Karri Somerville, 24. Mariah Williams, 29. Rebecca Greiner